The editorial preface and introduction are retained. Notes to the text, indexes and glossary have been omitted.

Text has been checked, proof-read twice. This text is complex, textually and historically, and there are many unresolved problems. Textual and bibliographical corrections and suggestions are welcome and will be credited to the scholars who make them.

All editorial corrections and emendations have been tagged.

There are no quotation marks in the manuscript. Quotation marks in the edition have been retained.

Soft hyphens are silently removed. When a hyphenated word (hard or soft) crosses a page-break or line-break, the page-break and line-break are marked after the completion of the hyphenated word.

The n attribute of each text in this corpus carries a unique identifying number for the whole text.

The title of the text is held as the first head element within each text.

div0 is reserved for the whole text (whether in one volume or many).

The numbered lines provide a canonical reference.

Translation by Henry Goddard Orpen.
1891The text is in English.Some words are in Anglo-French.Some words in the introduction are in Latin.Some place-names are in Irish.historpoetrymedievalAnglo-Normantranslation2011-02-24Beatrix Färbered.Addition to bibliography made.2009-10-16Beatrix Färbered.File parsed; new SGML and HTML versions created.2009-10-15Beatrix Färbered.File proofed (2); place-names encoded; editor's preface and introduction captured & proofed (1), bringing up the wordcount by 12,000 words; structural and content encoding applied.2009-10-13Beatrix Färbered.Minor changes made to header; file parsed; lineation added.2009-07-30Emer Purcelled.Bibliography added to header.2009-07-20Emer Purcelled.Header constructed (based on that of the French text), structural and in-depth mark-up completed and revised.2009-06-30Emer Purcelled.Text proofed (1); further in-depth mark-up added.2009-05-30Emer Purcelled.Text proofed (1); structural and part of the in-depth markup entered.2009-04-30Emer Purcellfile captureText captured.

PREFACE

To trace the small beginnings of a movement big with consequences has always had a peculiar fascination for the human mind. Not since the day when St. Patrick preached his first sermon in Dichu's barn has there been any event of greater importance to Ireland than the coming of the Normans to her shores. The importance of this event was not duly recognised at the time by the Irish annalists any more than it was perceived by the Irish chieftains. The notices in relation to it in the Irish Annals are consequently few and meagre in the extreme. Hence modern historians in telling the story of how the English first got a foothold in Ireland have had to rely almost exclusively on the writings of GiraldusCambrensis, and on the few scattered notices of the general chroniclers of English affairs. Giraldus, though not an eye-witness of the events, had, no doubt, exceptional opportunities of learning the facts, and he has left us an account which, though not free from prejudices and partialities, will compare favourably in its scope and character with any similar recital of the age. Still Giraldus was not an
Irishman; he did not know the country well, and had to take a great deal on not very trustworthy hearsay. There was, however, an Irishman who was a participator in the events, and though his account has not come down to us at first hand, there is every reason to believe that it is faithfully retailed to us by the writer of the old French rhymes contained in this volume. This Irishman was Morice Regan, Dermot McMurrough's latimer or secretary, and he was no doubt an eye-witness of much that the Anglo-Norman rhymer tells on his authority. The first leaf of the MS. in which these rhymes are preserved is unfortunately wanting,
and no original or early title for the poem has come down to us. To judge by the contents of the existing fragment, however, the poem may possibly have been called La Chanson Dermot or La Chanson Dermot e le Conte, and, for the sake of having a distinctive title and one suitable for reference, I have ventured to call it The Song of Dermot and the Earl.

Though the existence of this MS. has long been known and an edition of the French text was published in 1837, it has never been translated, nor annotated in any useful way. Writers in general have been acquainted with its contents only through the medium of a very inaccurate Summary or Abstract in English made by SirGeorgeCarew in the time of James I, or rather through a still more inaccurate reproduction of this Summary printed in the eighteenth century, and consequently they have never had a fair opportunity of
estimating the historical value of the MS. or of properly utilizing its contents. Mr. Freeman, in writing his history of the Norman Conquest of England, has shown to what valuable use as authorities the rhymed Chronicles of Wace and Benoitde St. Maur may be put in skilful hands. The future historian of the Norman Invasion of Ireland may perhaps be able to utilize this little poem in an analogous way.

Apart from its value as a material of history, an Anglo-Norman text written in Ireland, as there is every reason to suppose this was, is sufficiently rare to justify its study from the point of view of language alone. In England at one time it seemed as if the French language was about to gain the upper hand, at any rate as the language of literature and of the educated classes, but this can never have been the case in Ireland, where French was spoken only by some of the leaders and early settlers in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries and by a few friars and monks educated in France. All the more precious then is one of the very few Irish examples of Anglo-Norman rhymes saved from the wreck of the past.

I have to express my obligations to His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury for permission to transcribe the manuscript and to have a reproduction made of one of its pages, and to Mr. S. W. Kershaw, F.S.A., the Librarian at Lambeth Palace, for his courtesy to me during my frequent visits to the library. I also desire to thank Mr. F. York Powell of Christ Church, Oxford,
for suggestions and advice readily given throughout the preparation of this little book, and to express the hope that, whatever may be amiss in any of its departments—historical, topographical or linguistic— the student of this eventful period of Irish history, for whom especially the book is written, may find in it—in O'Huidhrin's phrase—an addition of knowledge on sacred Erin.

GODDARD H. ORPEN.December 1891.

INTRODUCTION

Description of the MS. There is only one MS. copy of this poem or chronicle known to exist. It is preserved among the Carew MSS. at Lambeth Palace Library, where it is numbered 596. It is unfortunately only a fragment. Some lines, probably not very many, are wanting at its commencement, which is in the nature of an exordium, but as the narrative closes abruptly it is impossible to say how much is lost at the end. The present copy is undoubtedly a transcript, and, according to M.FrancisqueMichel, is in a fourteenth-century hand. According to the best opinion I can form, however, the handwriting might with more likelihood be placed in the last quarter of the thirteenth century. As a collotype reproduction of a page of the MS. is published with this text, palaeographers can judge of its date for themselves. At least one line has been omitted in this transcript after lines 424, 487, 1802, and 2863, and there is reason to believe that a still larger omission occurs after line 2993 (see Notes). The MS. is written on vellum in double columns of 37 or 38 lines to the column, and 46 pages remain. The double columns are 8.5 inches in height by 6.5 inches in width. Lines 1940–1978 are by a different hand from that by which the rest was written. The lines are normally octosyllabic rhymed couplets with an additional post-tonic syllable in the feminine endings, but the atonic syllable of the first foot is often wanting, and many of the lines, in their present form at least, show other irregularities. The separate paragraphs into which the poem is divided are headed by
large capitals (sometimes omitted) in red or green paint, and after the first page a space is left between the initial letters and the rest of the lines. These initial letters themselves are ornamented with a dash of red paint. At the top of the first page have been added the words Fragmentum Historiae Hiberniae Gal. carmine. At the foot of page i there is the letter T, at the foot of page 17 the letter V, and at the foot of page 39 the letter W. These letters appear to correspond with the 'gatherings,' or bundles of the skins as arranged for binding, and perhaps indicate that our MS. was at one time bound up with others. They are, however, subsequent in date to the MS., though, I think, older than the pagination, which was probably added in SirGeorgeCarew's time. The existing leaves appear to be arranged as follows:—the first 16 pages form 4 double leaves, sewn in the middle between pp. 8 and 9. The 9th leaf (pp. 17–18) is a single one, and the short end turns up between pp. 38 and 39, where, however, there is no lacuna in the MS. It may originally have been a double leaf turning up at the commencement and containing the opening lines, with perhaps an illuminated letter or picture. The fact that this leaf contains the subscribed letter V on p. 17, seems, no doubt, to indicate that it was the first, and not the last, leaf of a gathering; but, as before remarked, this lettering is not coeval with the MS., and may have been added after the opening leaf had been cut off and when the single leaf, as at present, formed the first leaf of the next gathering. In fact the lettering was very probably coeval with the heading Fragmentum Historiae, &c. already mentioned. The next 20 pages (19–38) are formed by 5 double leaves, sewn in the middle between pp. 28 and 29, and the last 8 pages (39–46) appear to be single leaves. From this it seems probable, (1) that the gatherings consisted normally of 5 double leaves each; (2) that one single leaf, originally forming with pp. 17–18 a double leaf, has been lost at the commencement; (3) that at
least 4 leaves completing the present single leaves have been lost at the end.

Bound up at present with the vellum MS. and following it on paper are certain fragments of Anglo-Irish Annals in Latin, an Abstract in English of the French text made by or under the direction of SirGeorgeCarew, and certain lists of names mentioned in the text and in other documents contained in the volume or in the

Expugnatio Hibernica of Giraldus, all of which are described in the Calendar of Carew MSS. Another copy of Carew's Abstract is preserved in the Clarendon Collection in the British Museum (Ayscough 4792). It has on the outer skin the signature 'Mathew Plunckett.' There is also a copy in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin.

Previous works in relation to the MS.Carew's Abstract of the Chronicle was printed in 1747 by WalterHarris in his

Hibernica, and again in 1770; but it is only fair to say that many of the blunders and absurdities which disfigure this production are due to the editor or printer and are not to be found in the original Abstract, though it, too, shows a misunderstanding of many passages and contains several imperfections and blemishes. For many years Irish historians had before them nothing but Harris's blundering production, and consequently the Chronicle did not receive the attention at their hands that it deserved. In 1837, however, the French text, edited by M.FrancisqueMichel, was published by WilliamPickering, and this edition, though by no means free from errors, was a great boon to those who could read the language in which the poem is written. A few glossarial notes were added, but no translation was attempted. There is indeed an introduction to Michel's text, written by Mr.ThomasWright, which purports to incorporate the substance of the story told here with the materials supplied by Giraldus and other authorities; but owing to the writer's ignorance on the subject of Irish topography and nomenclature, as well as to an occasional misunderstanding
of the text with which he was dealing, very little was really added to what was already known on the subject.

Use to which the MS. has been put. I can find no mention of this MS. earlier than Carew's time, nor do I think that it was used in any of the earlier accounts of 'the conquest,' to which, as Campion says of his own

Chronicle, Geraldof Wales was the onely Author that ministred some indifferent furniture.Mauritus Regan is noticed by Ware among the writers of Ireland in the 12th century. This book of Ware's, De Scriptoribus Hiberniae, was published in 1639, and in his De Hibernia et Antiquitatibus ejus Disquisitiones, first published in 1654, he made some use of Carew's Abstract of this poem, especially in the passage on the distribution of the lands granted by Henry II to EarlRichard and to Hughde Lacy (pp. 233–237). A similar passage occurs in Ware's note to Spenser's View of the State of Ireland (Reprint 1809), where he says that Carew's Translation was communicated to him by ArchbishopUssher. This book was first published in 1633, but I cannot find the note in that edition. SirRichardCox collected materials for his Hibernia Anglicana, published in 1689, from the Lambeth Library, and made considerable use of this poem as represented by Carew's Abstract, the mistakes of which he reproduces; and so with subsequent writers, such as Lyttelton, Leland, O'Halloran, Gordon, Moore, &c.; they seem to have known Regan, as they call their authority, only through Harris's incorrect reproduction thereof; and similarly, even long after the appearance of Michel's text, writers, such as GeraldSupple, MartinHaverty and others, have known only the English version, until MissKatherineNorgate, in her Angevin Kings, and ProfessorG.T.Stokes, in his Lectures on Ireland and the Anglo-Norman Church, made a more critical use of portions of the text, though not without occasionally misunderstanding it.

The present Edition. In the present edition, I have aimed, in the first place, at producing a thoroughly trustworthy transcript of the MS. With this object I have carefully collated Michel's text with the MS. at Lambeth, and have found and corrected a considerable number of positive misreadings. I have also adhered to the original more closely than M.Michel aimed at doing. The text is, in fact, printed as nearly as possible as it has come down to us, except that the contractions have been expanded—the letters supplied being, however, printed in italics—and marks of punctuation have been added. In many cases a single word is divided in the MS., generally, but not always, according to its component parts; and, on the other hand, two or more words are often run into one. These peculiar word-divisions, where clearly marked, have been reproduced, and, where likely to deceive, noted. In some cases, as, for instance, in ll. 15, 2321, and 2860, they have been unintentionally reproduced by M.Michel and have misled commentators. Even the apparently arbitrary use of u and v has been followed. This may be thought to have been a superfluous labour, but graphic peculiarities of this kind are among the data which may enable palaeographers to fix the date and even the place of composition of a MS., and as this chronicle is preserved in a single MS. it is all the more important to have a transcript of it which, short of a facsimile, will as nearly as possible supply the place of the original should any accident happen to it. A literal line for line translation is printed side by side with the text, and this, together with the footnotes, will, it is hoped, obviate any difficulty to which the reproduction of the faults and peculiarities of the MS. might otherwise give rise. This method of translation gives no scope for reproducing the swing and spirit of the original, but in all translations something must be sacrificed, and I have thought that for students of history and of language it is impossible to adhere too closely to the text at whatever
sacrifice of form. I should add that the MS. has no accents (except where noted), but the letter i (which also stands for j) is marked by a fine stroke like an acute accent. These marks seem to have been added after the text was written—at least they are in a somewhat lighter ink—and in several cases they have been omitted. It is noteworthy, too, that the letter z seems, in many cases at least, to have been an addition, for which however space was left. The Notes which follow the text in the present edition are mainly concerned with the identification of places, territories, tribes, and persons mentioned in the poem, and with references to the statements of Giraldus and of the Irish annalists and English chroniclers which corroborate, supplement, or are at variance with, the statements contained in the poem. At the end are added Indexes of the names of the persons and of the places mentioned in the poem, and a Glossary of the more unusual words and forms found in the text. I have also constructed a Map of Leinster and Meath, showing the positions of the principal territories and places, so far as they have been ascertained, at the time of the Anglo-Norman invasion. With a few exceptions drawn from other sources, these names are all to be found in the topographical poems of O'Dubhagain and O'Huidhrin, which are believed to have been written in the years 1372 and 1420 respectively, and which give an account of the tribes and territories of Ireland prior to the English occupation. With regard to those names which appear in the text I have, where it seemed necessary, placed them in brackets underneath the corresponding Irish names. In locating the places mentioned in the topographical poems I must express my great obligations to the writings of the late Dr.JohnO'Donovan, without whose masterly elucidations of Irish topography I should never have attempted to construct this map. Frequent references throughout the notes will also be found to the

Journal of the Kilkenny Archaeological Society, now the Royal Society of Antiquaries
of Ireland, a publication which only requires a good comprehensive Index to make it extremely useful to writers on Irish history and antiquities.

Author of the Poem. As to the author of the poem and the date of its composition nothing is known beyond what can be gleaned from the poem itself. It is not even known where Carew got the MS. It has been much too broadly ascribed to MoriceRegan. Carew himself appears to have been the first to give currency to this misconception. The MS. is bound up with a couple of outer plies of vellum, added to protect it, and one of these contains, in Carew's handwriting, on the upper left-hand comer, the signature, G.Carew, and the date 1617. Underneath is the following title and description:—
An Historie of Irland

This old frenche ffragment wants bothe beginninge and endinge. Neverthelesse in the first tenne Lynes it appears that this storie was written by one called MauriceRegan (sometymes mentioned in this discourse) who was servant and interpreter unto Dermond M'Moroghe kinge of Leinster and put into frenche meeter by one of his familiar acquaintance. It endeth abruptlie at the winninge of Limericke which was not full 3 yeares after Robert fitz Stephen his first arrivall in Irland.This is a mistake. The taking of Limerick was six years after Fitz-Stephen's landing. See Chronological Table.

A note to the same effect heads Carew's abstract of the poem, on the margin of which, opposite the name MauriceRegan, is written this MauriceRegan was the author of this Historie.

Carew evidently drew this conclusion from the opening lines of the poem, which must be examined with some care. Now these opening lines have been repeatedly wrongly transcribed and wrongly interpreted. As printed in Harris's

Hibernica they are pure gibberish, and the translation is
of course wrong. These mistakes are, in the main, due to Harris and not to Carew, who does not translate the passage, nor in the Lambeth copy of Carew's Abstract is it transcribed. Lines 4–8 run thus in Harris's version:—Maurice Regan was the man,Who face to face indited to meThese actions of the king,And of himself showed me this history.

Wright, in his introductory essay to Michel's edition, prints the correct text of the first eleven lines (except that he puts latinier for latimer) side by side with Harris's gibberish, which he wrongly attributes to Carew, and then gives his own literal translation; but, curiously enough, he seems to fall into precisely the same error as that which he attributes to Harris, namely, that Regan had written the history. Wright's version of these four lines is as follows:—Maurice Regan was he,I spoke mouth to mouth with him,Who endited this history,[Who] shewed me the history of him.

Now Wright has mistaken parla (the 3rd person) for parlai (the 1st), thus apparently making Regan the subject of endita and by rendering this latter word endited he has certainly done little to correct Harris's error.I may add that Wright translates l. 10: Here I will read of the bachelor (i. e. the king), apparently taking lirrai as the fut. of lire instead of as the fut. of laier=laisser. This formula of transition to a new subject occurs several times in the poem; see Glossary, sub lesser.

The translation now offered, which makes Regan the subject of parla, and takes the words lui ki cest(e) iest(e) endita as referring to the anonymous writer of the geste, with whom Regan spake face to face, still leaves room for
a certain amount of doubt as to the making of the poem that has come down to us and as to Regan's exact contribution thereto. Apart for the moment from ll. 5 and 6, it seems clear from ll. 2 and 7 that the writer who speaks of himself in the 1st person derived his account directly from MoriceRegan. Standing by itself l. 7 might mean no more than l. 2, but there are repeated references throughout the poem to la chanson, la geste, lestorie, and lescrit, as the authority for particular statementsThis authority is called la chanson in ll. 456, 1912; la geste, ll. 337, 1065, 1309, 1779, 2598, 3177; lestorie, ll. 2403, 3003, and lescrit, l. 3134. By la chancon in l. 143, however, is meant the present poem. Similar expressions referring to pre-existing materials are to be found elsewhere, as, for instance, in L'histoire de Guillaume le Maréchal, Romania, vol. 11, p. 22 et seq. This poem, which, according to the editor M.PaulMeyer, was probably composed by a professional trouvère from materials supplied by Jeand'Erlee, contains the following references:—Si com en lestorie le truis, l. 3656; Mais nostre
estorie me remembre, l. 3885; Li escriz dit ce que je di, l. 16027; Tant me fait li escris entendre, l. 15909; and see id. p. 31., and from these references taken in connection with the opening lines we must, I think, conclude that MoriceRegan supplied the writer with a written chronicle of the events which had already been put into metre, so to deserve the name of a chanson. MoriceRegan, Dermot's faithful latimer, may have himself kept such a chronicle, and our rhymer appears not to have been the first to translate and versify the materials. In dealing with a fragmentary passage such as that before us, there is an inevitable risk of misapprehension; but I am inclined to think that the words lui ki cest(e) iest(e) endita (ll. 5 and 6) refer, not to the person intended by the words moi and me in ll. 2 and 7, but to the writer of this pre-existing geste, chanson, or estorie. This supposition will, at any rate, account for the change from the 1st to the 3rd person. That our writer did not rely solely on the written materials
supplied to him may be inferred from the fact that he repeatedly quotes as his authority common report, or the
statement of old peopleSee the following passages:—ll. 109, 111, 236, 251, 315, 1500, 1547, 2437, 2584. 2594, 2678, 2686, 2822, 2955, 3053, 3171, 3400. At the same time we must be careful as to the inferences we draw from these phrases. They were the common-places of the rhyming chroniclers, often used merely to complete a line or for the sake of the rhyme. M.Michel infers from the use of such phrases as solum la gent de antiquite (l. 251) and solum le dit as anscienz (l. 1500) that our author did not live far from the epoch of which he relates the events (Pref. p. vii); but we find Gaimar, for instance, using the phrase si com distrent lantive gent of an event which took place in the reign of Aethelwulf: Lestorie des Engles, R. S. l. 2405; cf. ll. 1682 and 1785. while such phrases as cum il me fud endite l. 177, solum le dist de mun cuntur l. 407, cum il me fud cunte l. 2241, seem to point to some particular informant, perhaps MoriceRegan himself.

Date of the Poem. As to the date of the poem we have first of all the statement that our author met MoriceRegan in the flesh, and as the latter was employed on an important embassy
to Wales in 1168, and was sent to summon Dublin to surrender in 1170, we can hardly place his birth later than about 1147. Supposing he was eighty years of age when he told the story to the writer we get 1227 as an outside date. Looking at the contents of the Chronicle we find that the narrative is brought regularly down in this fragment only to 1175 or 1176, but there are two allusions pointing to a much later date. First with regard to archbishopLaurenceO'Toole, it is stated in l. 1844 Que Seint Laurence pus ert clame. Now, though he died on the 14th November 1180, he was not canonized until the 11th December 1225, and prior to his canonization he could hardly have been called Saint Laurence.It may be remarked indeed that Giraldus, R. S. v. 358, in speaking of the death of archbishop Laurence, says, De quo inter varia miracula, quibus in hoc suo sancto se mirabilem usque in hodiernum Deus ostendit, &c.; but this expression means no more than the vir sanctus which follows. Lines
1843–4 have, however, the appearance of being a subsequent addition or interpolation, and there are not wanting indications that the original text has been altered in this passage (see foot-note to text, ll. 1837–42); but, however this may be, from another allusion we cannot place the composition of the poem, in its present form at least, earlier than the beginning of the 13th century. I refer to the passage (ll. 3040–3057) where Philipde Prendergast, the son of Maurice, is described and is stated to have married the daughter (Maud) of Robertde Quency, and to have long held the constableship of Leinster (cf. ll. 2823–6). The sketch of Philip's character, I may remark, is very graphic and reads like a description from personal observation.I attach little importance to the phrase solum la gent, which may have been added for the rhyme; cf. ll. 108–9. Now we know from this poem that Maudde Quency was born in 1172 or 1173 (cf. ll. 2744, 2807, 2819), and therefore she could hardly have been married to Philipde Prendergast before 1190. In another way we get an outside limit to the date of this marriage. On an inquisition in A. D. 1251 as to the lands and heirs of Gerald or Gerardde Prendergast, son of Philip by Maudde Quency, it was found that by his first wife, sister to TheobaldPincerna, Gerald left one surviving daughter who married Johnde Cogan and left an only son then aged eight years.See Cal. Docts. Ir., A. D. 1251, No. 3203. This grandson of Gerald was therefore born in 1243. His mother, Gerald's daughter, must have been born not later than about 1223, and Gerald himself not later than about 1200. So Philipde Prendergast must have married Maudde Quency between 1190 and 1199, probably near the earlier date. Now he apparently obtained the constableship in right of his wife, and the poem says he held it for a long time. We can fix Philip's death as having
occurred between 1227 and 1231I gather this from the ancient deed enrolled at the instance of SirHenryWallop (Patent Rolls of Chancery, 37th Eliz. m. 9, and see Journal of the Kilkenny Archaeological Society 1864–6, p. 143 n.), from which it appears that Philipde Prendergast was alive in the 11th year of Henry III, the date of his agreement with the bishop of Ferns, and dead in the 15th year of the same king, the date of the confirmation of the said agreement by Geraldde Prendergast. and though the poem does not speak of him as having been dead, the statement that he held the constableship plus longement (or mult longement, which is, perhaps, the correct reading) could not have been made very much before 1225, or, at any rate, not until after the commencement of the 13th century. On the other hand, if we are to suppose that MoriceRegan supplied the writer with materials shortly before the poem was written, we cannot place its date very long after 1225. Accordingly we must fix upon some time very soon after 1225, or assuming the allusion to St. Laurence to be an interpolation, some time earlier in the 13th century, as the probable date of the poem in its present form. So much for the immediate original of the transcript which has come down to us. Can we determine anything about the pre-existing geste or estorie with which MoriceRegan supplied our author? Now it is a remarkable fact that, with the exception of these two allusions to the canonized LaurenceO'Toole and to Philipde Prendergast, the former of which was probably an interpolation, there is nothing in the poem, so far as I have observed, pointing to a later date than 1177, unless, perhaps, the commonplace expressions referring to the statements of old people. Indeed even the reference to Milesde Cogan as afterwards lord of Mount Brandon (ll. 1652–5)—a place included in the grant to him made at the Council of Oxford in 1177—is introduced in a somewhat forced manner suggestive of subsequent interpolation. The grant to Milesde Cogan and RobertFitz-Stephen of the kingdom of Cork would more
naturally have been mentioned, had it already taken place, along with the elaborate account of the subinfeudation of Leinster and Meath. At any rate, we might have expected that changes in the grants there mentioned, as for instance the substitution in 1181 of lands in Leix for the lands in Kildare given to Meiler, would have been noticed had they already taken place. The account of the attack on Slane Castle (ll. 3184–3201), which is mentioned out of the chronological order, seems also to have been an afterthought. Certainly ll. 3202–7 read as if they were written to follow immediately after the account of the subinfeudation of Leinster and Meath. A similar inference may be drawn from l. 2341, where it is said that Richardde Cogan made his famous sortie from Dublin par la dute del Occident. The word dute is obscure, but it is sufficiently clear that the western gate is intended. Now the porta occidentalis is mentioned in a grant made by the citizens of Dublin in 1185 when Johnde Curci was Justiciar and preserved in the Register of the Abbey of St. Thomas, Dublin; and from a subsequent grant it appears that this gate, or more probably a new gate erected on its site, was afterwards known as the Porta NovaReg. St. Thomas, Dub., R. S. p. 404, and see Hist, and Mun. Docts. Ir., R. S. p. 56, where the two grants are set out in full.. Mr.J.T.Gilbert, in his

History of Dublin (vol. 1, p. 237), says, the date of the erection of the New-gate has not been ascertained, but from the charter of the Hospital of St. John it appears to have been standing in 1188. If I am right then in supposing that it replaced the Porta Occidentalis, it must have been erected between 1185 and 1188. Now had this New Gate been in existence at the time when this account of the Norwegian attack was written it would in all probability have been mentioned. No certain conclusion can be drawn from negative evidence of this kind; still it bears out the impression gained from reading the whole
poem, viz. that the writer whose date we have approximately fixed as soon afler the year 1225, or perhaps a little earlier in the 13th century, did not add much to the pre-existing geste or chanson supplied to him by MoriceRegan; that this pre-existing poem was written long before 1225 and probably soon after Strongbow's death in 1176, with which event it may well have ended; and consequently that the account we have before us, whenever it was written, is substantially a reproduction of the account of a contemporary writer. There is yet another important consideration which seems to support the above view. It is difficult to suppose that anybody writing in the first half of the 13th century on the subject of the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland should have been unacquainted with the works of Giraldus on the same subject; and yet while in the main our author and Giraldus corroborate one another, they do not always narrate the same events, and even when they do there is just such difference of treatment and divergence in details as might have been expected in writers who derived their information from distinct sources. The fact that both writers connect the rape of Dervorgil with Dermot's expulsion and ignore or slur over the lapse of fourteen years between the two events might at first sight seem to show that the later writer borrowed from the earlier; but the Annals of Clonmacnoise, under the year 1166, also affirm this connection, Which was evidently the popular view of the matter, and, as pointed out in the note to line 27, the popular view was not far wrong. On the whole I think there is no ground for concluding that this poem was in any respect derived from the Expugnatio. It seems to me to be an entirely independent authority for the facts it records, while the absence of any distinct reliance on the Expugnatio confirms the view that our poem is in substance the work of a writer who wrote before the Expugnatio was published.

History of the MS. As I have said, it is not known where
Carew got the MS. The following considerations seem, however, to point to a probable answer to this question. As already mentioned, the covering skin of the MS. has upon it under Carew's autograph the date 1617. At first sight it seems natural to conclude that this was the date of Carew's acquisition of the MS., but an examination of all the Carew MSS. at Lambeth will show that this date appears on fourteen of them, and as it also appears on the first volume of the original Catalogue made by Carew and now preserved at Lambeth, the hypothesis suggests itself that this date merely denotes the period when the MSS. bearing it were catalogued. But this hypothesis will not account for all the facts, as some, at any rate, of the volumes apparently catalogued in 1617 are expressly stated to have been compiled at an earlier date.Volumes 699 and 630 are stated to have been compiled in 1611. On the other hand, of the books dated 1617, No. 597, Pelham's Letter Book, is stated by Mr. Brewer to have been acquired in this year,Car. Cal. II, p. 296, note. and No. 599, the Book of Pedigrees, is stated in the heading to have been copied in the year 1617. On the whole I think it probable that Carew did receive a considerable accession of MSS. in this year, comprising, besides those already mentioned, the following vellum MSS., viz. Bray's Conquest of Ireland and perhaps the Old French Poem on the Deposition of Richard II now bound up with the former (No. 598), the works of Giraldus relating to Ireland (No. 622), and the Essay, to be presently described, by JamesYonge (No. 633). This accession of MSS. may have induced Carew to commence his catalogue and to group his papers then existing in a loose state into the other volumes bearing the date in question. The mere fact that he has placed our MS. in the forefront of his catalogue, marking it A, suggests that its acquisition was the immediate cause of the making of the catalogue. Mr. Brewer, the able editor of the Calendar of the Carew MSS.,
has made no attempt to trace the history of the MSS., nor even to set forth the order in which the volumes were obtained or compiled. He gives however, as an Appendix to the Introduction to vol. 2 of the Calendar, a list of all the Carew MSS., equating the old letter marks, consisting of the single, double, and triple alphabets, affixed by Carew, with the present numbering; and a comparison of this list with the contents of the MSS. themselves will show that all the MSS. dated 1617 are included in the single letter notation and in the first two volumes of the double letter notation, whereas those volumes, which, from their containing documents of later date, can be shown to have been compiled after 1617, are all, except XX, now No. 635, included in the triple letter notation. I conclude that in 1617, when the catalogue was commenced, the library consisted of all those books marked with a single letter and all those marked with a double letter up to TT, which was compiled in 1611. The volume marked VV, now No. 632, contains documents relating to Waterford, which, as will be presently shown, were probably copied in this year, but the volume may not have been completed until subsequently. Vol. WW is missing. Vol. XX, now No. 635, contains documents of date subsequent to 1617, as do nearly all of those marked with a triple letter which are still to be found. It therefore seems probable that our first impression was correct, and that the date 1617 on our MS. indicates the date of its acquisition by Carew. Now on the 21st February in this year, 1617, instructions were sent to the Earl of Thomond, Lord President of Munster, and SirWilliamJones, Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, to seize into the king's hands the liberties of the city of Waterford and to demand all the charters and evidences belonging to the corporation, and among other things such plate, jewells, and other treasure as remayneth in the custoddie of any of them for the publique use and behoofe of that toune. On the 5th March following, these commissioners
report that they had carried out their instructions and had received thirteen of the city charters and had locked them up together with other things in a chest of theires [i.e. the corporation's] in the Arundell Towre where all theire writinges are.Car. MSS. 607, p. 187; Car. Cal. ao 1617, Nos. 176, 179. Arundell's Castle was close to the Dominican Abbey. See map in Ryland's Hist. of Waterford. Now in vol. 632 of the Carew MSS.Car. Cal. Miscellaneous, pp. 466–477. The Latin charters are copied in a neat professional hand and headed by Carew. No. 27, p. 476 of the Car. Cal., is headed in the MS. From the Liger book of Waterforde. Folios 271–280 of the MS. contain abstracts in English of eleven charters. there are copies of a number of charters, grants and other documents touching Waterford, including some letters from Henry VII to the mayor and citizens about PerkinWarbeck, and it seems clear that these were among the documents seized in March 1617, and that Carew was enabled to take copies of them. If the four vellum MSS. bearing the date 1617 had been among the writings in that chest in the Arundell Tower it is certain that Carew, who
was an ardent collector of historical documents relating to Ireland, would have made every effort to retain them, and the date 1617, affixed to each of them by Carew beneath his autograph, suggests that this was the occasion of their acquisition.

There is, however, some further evidence indicating the person through whom Carew may have got the MSS. DonoughO'Brian, Earl of Thomond, who, as already mentioned, was chief of the Commission appointed to seize the liberties of Waterford, was a friend of Carew, who describes him in the year 1611 (Car. Cal. p. 147) as an extraordinary well-deserving lord, and in 1617 he occupied Carew's former position of Lord President of Munster. Now it appears from the heading to the Book of Pedigrees,
Car. MS. 599, that this book, containing the descentes of ye meere Irishe families and formed by sondry collections of ye Earl of Thomond, was copied for Carew in the year 1617.See Car. Cal. 1617, p. 345. Here we have direct evidence of one MS. coming from the Earl of Thomond in the year 1617, and, taken in connection with what has been already stated, this fact strengthens the supposition that this Commissioner, having seized a number of charters and other writings at Waterford in this year, gave Carew the opportunity of copying the former and of acquiring the vellum MSS. dated by him 1617, including our Old French Poem. That the corporation of Waterford should have had the custody of this MS. at this time is not improbable or without parallel. The Harleian MS. 913, which was in part at any rate the work of FrereMichelKyldare, and which contains the Anglo-Norman poem on the building of the walls of Ross, written in the year 1265, was at one time in the possession of GeorgeWyse, bailiff of Waterford in 1566 and mayor in 1571, and appears to have been known in 1608 as the Book of Rosse or Waterford.Popular Songs of Ireland, pp. 283–4, edited by CroftonCroker, London, 1839. Facsimiles Nat. MSS. of Ireland. It has been suggested that this book had previously been preserved in the Benedictine Abbey of St. John near Waterford, as a grant of this Abbey was made to WilliamWyse, possibly the father of GeorgeWyse, in the year 1536. With regard to our MS., however, I am more inclined to associate it with the Dominican Friary of St. Saviour, known as the Blackfriars, afterwards the Courthouse, at Waterford. This friary was founded by the citizens in 1226, and at its dissolution on the 2nd April, 1541, it is said to have contained among other things a libraryArch. Mon. Hib. 704; Hibernia Dominicana, p. 207.. It was granted to JamesWhite in 1542, probably the JamesWhite who was
mayor of Waterford in that year. This JamesWhite had a special commission as Justice of Wexford in 1538, and from letters of his to CrumwellState Papers, Hen. VIII, vol. 2, pp. 561–3; cf. vol. 3, pp. 116, 134. it is evident that he was an ardent reformer and upholder of Henry's claims.

Now in the 13th century there was a distinguished alumnus of this coenobium known as Gotofrid, or, as he calls himself, Jofroide Watreford de I'ordene az freres precheors le mendre. From his writings, three of which at least have come down to us, it is inferred that he was acquainted with Greek, Latin, Arabic and French, and that he had travelled in the East and lived for a long period in France. He is mentioned among the

Scriptores Ordinis PraedicatorumBy Jacques Quetif and Jacques Echard, Paris, 1719, Tom. 1, p. 467; cf. Hibernia Dominicana, 1769, p. 909, and Harris's Ware, Writers, p. 75. but the best account of his works is to be found in an article by M.Victorle Clerc, in the Histoire Litteraire de la FranceParis, 1847, tom. xxi. 216–229.. He translated into French, (i) the book of the Trojan war by the pseudonymous Dares the Phrygian, (2) the History of the Romans by Eutropius, and (3) the Secretum Secretorum, an apocryphal treatise of Aristotle.In the preface to this last work Jofroi speaks as if he worked from a Greek and an Arabic text as well as from a Latin one, and it appears that he understood these languages, but the passage in Harris's Ware (ubi sup.), in which he is made to say that he had already translated the work from Greek into Arabic and again from Arabic into Latin, is a mistranslation. It should be which has already been translated, &c. These three works are in prose. The statement of Lebeuf (Hist et Mém. de l'Acad. des Inscriptions, tom. xvii. p. 736) followed by Warton (Hist of Eng. Poetry from the 12th to the 16th cent, 1871, p. 109) that Godefroy translated Dares Phrygius into French rhymes appears to have been a mistake. This last work is
addressed to a patron, a nobles bers prouz et sages, whose name unfortunately does not appear. It is far from being a literal translation, but contains many good words, not less profitable, borrowed from other works of authority. It ends quite in the Irish manner:—ceus qui cest liure liront prient por frere Iofroi de Watreford et por seruais copale qui cest trauail empristrent & par layde dedeu lont achief menei. & ausi le liure dares le frigien de la gerre detroi. & ausi le liure de [word erased, read etropius] du regne des romains. Cest liure est fini.This passage was transcribed for me by Mr. Frederick York Powell from the original MS. at Paris. Jofroi's works are written in a late 13th century professional hand and are probably transcripts. The MS. containing these three works along with other writings is ascribed to the 13th century. It formerly belonged to the Bibliothèque de Colbert, and passed from it to the Bibliothèque Royale, and is now in the Bibliothèque Nationale of Paris, where it is numbered 1822.

It would certainly be rash to conclude that Jofroi was the writer of our Poem. Indeed, judging from the excerpts from his writings printed in the above-mentioned works, his language is much purer French than that of our text, and is free from some of its dialectical peculiarities. As, however, both MSS. are probably transcripts, and our text has certainly been corrupted, no conclusive argument can be drawn from the exact forms of words used. At any rate, the fact that a monk of the Blackfriars of Waterford in the 13th century could write so freely in French as Jofroi did, and was ready to apply his pen to translating purely secular works, shows at least that there were Dominicans there who understood and valued books of the class to which our MS. belongs, and that there is nothing improbable in the supposition that the transcript which has come down to us was made for them and was preserved for three centuries in their
library, and indeed never left Waterford until the year 1617. Furthermore, from a doggerel couplet scribbled in an early hand at the end of JamesYonge's Essay, Car. MS. 633, which we have already seen reason to suppose was obtained at the same time and place as our MS., there are express grounds for associating that MS. with the Dominicans. This couplet, written three times in a small professional hand, runs as follows:—Gratia nulla perit nisi gratia blakmonachorumEst et semper erit litill thanke in fine laborum.
A somewhat similar sentiment is expressed on the preceding page under the roughly drawn figure of a man in an
early Tudor dress:—Farewell adue I must nedes goo hensMy labour is lost I gett no pens.

This MS. is also remarkable from another point of view, for it proves that Jofroi's translation of the Secreta Secretorum was known in Waterford in the beginning of the 15th century. Like Jofroi's work, it purports to be a translation of this apocryphal treatise of Aristotle, though this fact is not noted in the Calendar of Carew Papers. Another and perhaps earlier version of the same work is preserved in the Bodleian Library, and is stated by Mr.J.T.Gilbert to be the earliest known composition of any length written in English by an Anglo-Irish author. It is dedicated to Yow nobyll and gracious lorde Jamys de Botiller, Erle of Ormonde, lieutenant of our lege lorde kynge henry the fyfte in Irlande, (A. D. 1419–22); and a comparison of its preface with that of Jofroi will alone show that Yonge had Jofroi's translation before him.See Facsimile, Nat. MSS. of Ireland, vol. 3, Introd. p. xiv, PI. xxxvi. and App. Indeed Yonge's Preface appears to be little else than an adaptation of Jofroi's, amounting at times to a literal translation, though this connection has not been noticed by Mr.J.T.Gilbert. Compare the passage: In oone techying acordyth and in oone verite shewyth the moste wyse clerkes and maysteris of renoune that haue beyn afor us in all tymys, &c., with the following extract from Jofroi's prologes, cited in the Histoire Littéraire de la France, ubi supra: En une aprise accordent et une ueritei mostrent les plus sages clers et maistres les plus renomez de ceus ki auant nos furent de cest siecle, &c.; and the following: The whyche thynge nobil and gracious lorde afor sayde haith parcewid the sotilte of your witte and the clernys of your engyn, with Laquele chose aparcheust la sutelitei de vostre engin; Scriptores Ordinis Praedicatorumubi supra.

Historical value of the Chronicle. Though, owing to the want of a good working edition of this poem or chronicle, historians have not fully availed themselves of its materials, yet its historical importance has often been noted. Thus Harris in his preface to

Hibernica says:—Whoever writes the History of Ireland during the English Period must make this Piece the main Basis of his Account; and the Defects of our Author must be supplied from Cambrensis. Again, Mr.Dimock, the editor of the Topographia and Expugnatio Hibernica of Giraldus in the Rolls Series, speaking of this poem, which he frequently cites, says:—There is every reason to accept it as simple prosaic truth, according to the writer's best belief and information, put into simple rhyme; and in rhyme though it be, its history, I have not a doubt, is far more accurately true than Giraldus's poetical prose. Sometimes it gives a strong general confirmation to Giraldus's narration, but the particulars often are very different. Its heroes are not always the same as the heroes of Giraldus;
and while it has nothing of some events related by him, it dwells, on the other hand, on other events and persons passed over by him in silence.Giraldus Cambrensis, R.S. v. Preface, lxxxiv–v. Mr.Dimock adds: At present, it (the poem) is in great measure useless; it most sadly wants a new edition, with a literal translation and notes, by some Irish scholar well versed in the Irish topography and family nomenclature of the time, and well versed also in the Anglo-Norman of the time. No more valuable contribution, perhaps, to the history of the first few years of the English invasion of Ireland could be made than such an edition of this treatise.

The Rev.G.T.Stokes, Professor of Ecclesiastical History in the University of Dublin, has, indeed, drawn on some
of the materials supplied by this chronicle in his earlier Lectures on Ireland and the Anglo-Norman Church, and has ably shown to what valuable use they may be put. He too bears witness to the accuracy and truth of the poem, and says (p. 72):—The more carefully you study this Anglo-Norman poem, the more thoroughly you will trust it. It is evidently based on original documents. It fixes dates, Church festivals, mentions the precise periods during which the armies reposed, the roads they took, the rivers they crossed, and many other topographical details which have escaped the notice of the editor, Mr. Wright.

The critical judgment as to the value of our poem by such writers as Mr.Dimock and ProfessorStokes, who have studied the original text, far outweighs the adverse opinions of Lord Lyttelton, Mr. Moore, and even of Dr.O' Donovan, who were acquainted only with the inaccurate printed copy of Carew's faulty Abstract.

The chronicle is written from the point of view of Dermot and his allies. Indeed had the writer not told us so himself we should have concluded that his information was mainly derived from a devoted follower of Dermot. The very absence, however, of any sort of moral condemnation for anything done, except for treachery towards Dermot which is always committed à tort and the simplicity and directness of the narrative render it probable that it is a truthful account of what came within the writer's sources of information. His knowledge of Irish topography and Irish nomenclature
compares favourably with that of Giraldus. The orthographic rather than phonetic forms adopted for some of the Irish
names, such as Hathcleyth (l. 2210) for Ath-Cliath, Hachedur (l. 1012) for Achadh-ur, Kinelogin (l. 3258) for Cinel-eoghan, together with the use of the word langport (Ir. longphort) for camp, seem to show that the writer had an Irishman at his elbow; while the frequent employment of the tags and commonplaces of the trouvères proves his acquaintance with the rhymed chronicles and chansons de geste of the time. I have already remarked that the narrative appears to be quite independent of the works of Giraldus. The writer's freedom from the family bias of the Geraldine has probably enabled him to make a juster estimate of the relative merits of the invaders. We hear at least as much of the prowess of EarlRichard and of the de Cogans as we do of that of the Geraldines, and much is said in these pages of the probity and valour of Mauricede Prendergast, while Giraldus merely records his landing. Incidental allusions the accuracy of which can be verified—such as the mention of RobertHarding of Bristol and his monastery of St. Austin's (ll. 232, 302), the references to the Steine and Howe at Dublin (ll. 2269 and 2321) and to the names of the city gates (ll. 2333 and 2341), the mention of Henry's place of embarkation in Wales, La Croiz (2590), and of Raymond's home, Karreu, (l. 2860)—prove the correctness and the independence of our
author's information.

Language and versification. With reference to language and versification, the poem, as M.Michel says, is faulty in style and very corrupt in its language. At the same time there are many indications that the poem as originally written was much freer from blemishes than the transcript that has come down to us. Again and again it will be found that a line, the metre of which is faulty, can be set right by some obvious grammatical correction. I have not in general thought it necessary to suggest such changes in the footnotes.

While in many cases to make the requisite alteration is sufficiently easy, to do this exhaustively, so as to make all the lines metrically and grammatically correct, would involve a reconstruction of the text which, with only a single MS. to go upon, would often be extremely problematical. In the case of Anglo-Norman texts written in England (or Ireland) it cannot be assumed that the lines were originally either faultless in metre or strictly grammatical in form, and it is well known that in England by the beginning of the 13th century the old rules of declension were rapidly falling into decay. Where, however, the reading of the MS. leaves the sense obscure, and in some other cases where it seemed useful, I have suggested corrections in the footnotes and adopted them in the translation.

With respect to the rhymes, which in general, with a few obvious corrections, seem accurate enough, it may be useful to make the following remarks:—
In apparent derogation of the rule that e proceeding from the Latin a only rhymes with an e of similar origin, we have the rhymes pe (pedem): naufre 1953: meyne 2385: lesse 2876, and pes: heistez 1096; muiller: per (parem) 2833: guerrer (guerrier) 3062; fer (ferum): herberger 2941: lesser 2986, &c. These examples, however, all come within the recognised exception that when the Latin e open, tonic, free (to adapt the convenient terminology of French phonetics) does not become the diphthong ie it rhymes with e=a. The rhymes fiez: fublez 596–7, feiz: turnez 2673–4, and feez: citez 3010–11 are explained by treating fiez (which we should read in each case) as proceeding from vicem + the suffix -atam.

It may also be noted that the nasal -um=-ons: un (on) e.g. accomplerum: reisun 144–5, lisum: barun 1064–5. Similarly champ: garant 674–5, champ(e): blanc 2447–8. The rhyme meins(minus): anciens 2677–8, might seem to point to a form, ancieins but we have elsewhere anciens: quens. The diphthong ui is sometimes reduced to u:—thus we have not only nuit: brut 1312–13, and: dedut 808–9, where we might read bruit and deduit but also nuiz: venuz 1981–2, and nuit: jut 2137–8.

As in Norman texts, generally, we have ei usually retained for oi. Again, ie is generally reduced to e, and the past part, fern, in ee has lost the post-tonic e.

The impfs. of the 1st conj. are regularly in -out, but we have exceptionally ameit 53, and pleideit 2104; but this last is perhaps from the form pleidir, cf. Bozon, Société des Anciens Textes Français. Gloss. Conversely we have se pleniout 100 from se pleindre. There are indeed some instances of verbs in -eir, -re and -ir having been assimilated, at least in the infinitive, to the first conj.

Thus we have saver 622, aver (:feffer 435: mester 2731), poer as a verbal subst. 44; tener 776, 2838; ver=veeir 476; assente
(for assenti 2371, cf. Bozon Société des Anciens Textes Français where the verb is assimilated to the 1st conj.; tollet 218, but elsewhere tolir 2708. There are however indications that this assimilation had proceeded much further when the present transcript was made than at the date of the original composition. Thus the rhymes asailler: mentir 1032–3, asailer: partir 1574–5;
asaillerent: defendirent 3192–3, show that the occasional reduction of asaillir to the 1st conjugation was the work of the copyist. The same may, I think, be said of the rhymes adurez: tapez 714–15, as elsewhere we have the form aduriz in rhyme, and syverent: virent 546–7.

Literary Qualities. As to the literary qualities of our poem, great allowances have to be made for the corrupt form in which the text has come down to us, and of course poetry in the sense of imaginative art is not to be looked for. Still this fragment seems to stand somewhere between the chanson de geste proper and the mere rhymed chronicle. It deals with heroes, though the heroes were real and, perhaps, contemporary men, and the cause for which they fought was not a noble one. We have constantly presented to our view the handful of mail-clad Norman knights and well-armed followers pitted against hordes of undisciplined and ill-armed traitors, and the conflicts between them form so many graphic battle-pictures. The repulse of the attack on Raymond's camp with the remorseless executions that follow; the desperate sortie of the 600 from the siege of Dublin, and the dispersion of O'Conor's enormous host, like wandering cattle, the furious attempt by John the Wode and the Northmen to recover their city, and their final discomfiture, are all told with simplicity and vigour. There is a touch of real chivalry in the conduct of Mauricede Prendergast when he braves the wrath of his comrades and crosses swords with his allies rather than permit an act of base treachery to a foe whom he has sworn to protect; and there is a stroke of something like humour in the advice of Milesde Cogan to the Irish chieftain to watch the battle from afar and join in with the victors.

The song of Dermot and the Earl
An Old French Poem
By his own interpreterWho told to me the history of him,Of which I here make record.This man was Morice Regan,Face to face he spake to himWho related this geste:The history of him he showed me.This Morice was interpreterTo King Dermot, who loved him much.Here I shall leave off about the bachelor,About King Dermot I will tell you.In Ireland, at this day,There was no more worthy king:Very rich and powerful he was;He loved the generous, he hated the mean.He by his powerHad taken and conqueredO'Neil and Meath in his war;Hostages he brought to Leinster:He brought with him O'Carroll,The son of the king of Uriel.Now in Leath-Cuinn there was a king,O'Rourke he was called in Irish,In Tirbrun, the barren, he dwelt,A waste and woody land.But O'Rourke, the rich king,Had a beautiful wife at this time,The daughter of King MelaghlinTo whom Meath was suject.Melaghlin was lord of Meath;Whoever would tell you the truth,She was of the stockOf the good old Melaghlin;He was sprung from the lineageOf Melaghlin of the bold heart,The son of Coleman, the rich king,Who was so well-bred and courteous.About Melaghlin I will leave off,About King Dermot I will tell.Dermot, king of Leinster,Whom this lady loved so much,Made pretence to her of loving,While he did not love her at all,But only wished to the utmost of his powerTo avenge, if he could, the great shameWhich the men of Leath-Cuinn wrought of oldOn the men of Leath-Mogha in his territory.King Dermot often sent wordTo the lady whom he so loved—By letter and by messenger,Often did the king send wordThat she was altogether, in truth,The thing in the world that he most loved;Thus he besought her very oftenFor her true love covertly.And the lady sent him wordBy a secret messengerThat she would do all his will:To the king who is so renownedShe returns answer again,Both by word of mouth and by letter,That he should come for her in such mannerWith all the host of LeinsterAnd by force and by warShould carry her away with him from the land;That she would let King Dermot knowIn what place he should take herWhere she should be in concealment,That he might freely carry her off:In what place, in short, she should beWhere he might freely carry her off.The king summoned speedilyAll his men throughout Leinster,To come to him without delayFrom Ossory and from Leinster;And he let them all knowThat he wished to go against Leath-Cuinn,To avenge, if he could, the shameWhich these men wrought of yore;The shame which they had wrought of yoreIn Leath-Mogha, in his territory.Promptly they cameAt the king's command.When all were assembled,Against Leath-Cuinn they turned straightway;Night and day they marched forwardRich and poor, small and great.Why should I go on telling you more?Into Tirbrun came the valiant king.Now the lady had sent wordTo King Dermot where she was,That he should come with his menAnd promptly carry her offKing Dermot immediatelyCame marching to the placeWhere the lady had sent word.That she would be ready.In this way Dermot the kingCarried off the lady at this time.O Rourke bitterly complainedFor his wife whom he had lost;While he offered very fierce battleTo the men of Leinster.But, my lords, King DermotThen brought the lady away with him,Nor ever ceased marchingFrom thence to the midst of Hy Kinsellagh.And the lady for a good long timeWas there, as people say:At Ferns she was placed for her abode,As people say, in this manner.O Rourke, much grieving,To Connaught went in all haste.To the king of Connaught he relates all;Bitterly he complains of the shame,How the king of LeinsterCame upon him in such manner,Took his wife by force from him,And placed her at Ferns for her abode.To the king of Connaught of the outrageBitterly he complains, and of the injury;Very earnestly he besought himTo make ready for himSome of his household and of his menSo that he could avenge his shame.The king of Connaught sent wordTo the king of Ossory, in the first place,That he should not fail their kingBut should come to their aid.And these men fully promised himThat they would make him king in that territoryIf they could cast out of itKing Dermot who was so bold.And this man immediately revoltedAgainst his lord, King Dermot;And Melaghlin, the traitor,Abandoned his lord;And Mac Torkil of DublinAbandoned his lord at this moment.There joined in the treasonMurrough O'Brien, an evil rebel,Whom the dogs devoured,As the song will tell youAs soon as we shall complete it for youFurther on in your story.When Dermot the noble king,Who was of so much worth,Saw that they had failed himGossips, kinsmen, and friends,One day King Dermot took horseAnd brought with him some of his men,And went to seek the rebel O'Brien;He wished to parley with him in secret.O'Brien, however, kept avoiding the king:With him he would not, either much or little,Parley or counsel aughtNor assistance give his lord.When king Dermot saw thisThat he could not parley with the rebel,The king immediately turned backStraight to the city of Ferns.At Ferns the king abodeAt an abbey that was thereOf Saint Mary the Queen,Glorious lady and Virgin.Then the king devisedA trick that he would play;How he might find the rebelAnd by cunning speak to him.To the Abbot the king sent word,That he should lend him a cope,A cope for a canonOr for a priest or for a monk.To Knoth then the king goesThis time with the cope.At a dun of his he found him,As it was related to me.The king put on the copeWhich trailed down to his feet,So that one could not but take himFor a Monk Regular.When the Palmer had comeBefore the traitor's house,The rebel, when he saw the king, straightwayHurried off towards the forest;For the wicked traitorDid not wish to recognise him as his lord.The rebel then shoutsIn a loud and strong voice:—'Wicked king, what do you seek?Be off with you at my bidding;And if you do not do so speedilyI shall have you strung up to the wind.'When the king heard him,He was full of grief and wrath.The king was in great distressFor the saying of the traitorWho had so menaced himAnd would string him up to the wind.The rich king returnedWho was so liberal and courteous,Since the traitor revoltedAgainst his rightful lord.All his men failed himBoth of Leinster and of Ossory.When Dermot the king perceivedThat he was betrayed at this time:—His own men failed himSo completely was he betrayed—And that they wished to take himTo hand him over and sell him to O'Rourke,While the king of Connaught on the other handShould make a great destruction of him—Why should I delay youFrom your geste at all?His people by the strong handHave cast out King Dermot,Have wrested the whole kingdom from himAnd have driven him from Ireland.When the king was exiledHe took ship at Corkeran;When the king was abandonedAt Corkeran he took ship;At Corkeran he put to sea,Auliffe O'Kinad he brought with him,With him the rich king broughtAnd more than sixty three.The rich king had the windFine and fair to his desire:His ships had a very fair breeze;At Bristol they take the shore.At the house of Robert Harding,Near to St Austin's,King Dermot abodeWith as many men as he had.According to common report,The queen was there also.When the king had stayedAt Bristol as long as he pleased,He had his knights summoned,He resolved to go to NormandyTo hold parley with King HenryOf England, the powerful.For the king of EnglandWas, my lords, at that timeIn Normandy on account of his war,On account of the war with the French.So much did Dermot accomplishBy his journeyings and so far goThat he landed in Normandy,According to the old people.It is well, my lords, that I should tell youHow Dermot goes through Normandy:To seek King Henry then he goesUp and down, forwards and back;He sent messages and made enquiriesUntil he found King Henry;At a city he found himOf which he was called lord.King Dermot, as soon as he could,Went indeed towards the court:Towards the court step by stepHe went away very quicklyTo hold parley with the English king,Who was so rich and so bold.When Dermot, the valiant king,Before King HenryHad come at this time,Before the English king,Very courteously he saluted himFairly and finely before his men:'May God who dwells on highGuard and save you, King Henry,And give you alsoHeart and courage and willTo avenge my shame and my misfortuneThat my own people have brought upon me!>Hear, noble king Henry,Whence I was born, of what country.Of Ireland I was born a lord,In Ireland acknowledged king;But wrongfully my own peopleHave cast me out of my kingdom.To you I come to make plaint, good sire,In the presence of the barons of your empire.Your liege-man I shall becomeHenceforth all the days of my life,On condition that you be my helperSo that I do not lose at allYou I shall acknowledge as sire and lord,In the presence of your barons and earls.'Then the king promised him,The powerful king of England,That willingly would he help himAs soon as he should be able.King Henry said, in the first place,That he should set about returning home.He crossed the sea to England,And went to stay at Bristol.Then King Henry sent wordBy letter and by messengerTo Robert Harding, as he held him dear,That he should provide for the king whatever he might need,For him and for all his men,In every respect according to his wish.Honourably he executed for himAll his commands.At Bristol the king abodeA fortnight or a month, I know not which.Whatever the king would orderRobert supplied to him in plenty.But the king of EnglandFor Dermot, according to the lay,Did nothing in truthBeyond the promise, as people say.When King Dermot sawThat he could get no aidFrom King Henry as he had promised him,He would not stay there any longer.King Dermot then, you must know,Goes everywhere seeking aid:Aid everywhere he seeksIn Wales and in England.So far did he ask for aidUp and down in this kingdomThat he had an interview,So says the geste, with Earl Richard.He was a brave earl,Courteous, generous, and lavish.Very earnestly the king.Besought him, very courteously,To give him some succour,Or that he himself should comeTo conquer his kingdom,From which he had been wrongfully cast out.To the earl he told plainlyHow he had been betrayed by his people:How his people had betrayed himAnd driven him out and put him to flight.His daughter he offered him to wife,The thing in the world that he most loved:That he would let him lave her to wife,And would give Leinster to him,On condition that he would aid himSo that he should he able to subdue it.The earl at this time was a bachelor,He had neither spouse nor wife.When he hears from King DermotThat he was willing to give him his daughterOn condition that he would come with himAnd subdue his land for him,The earl replies before his men:—'Rich king, hearken unto me.Here I assure you loyallyThat I shall assuredly come to you;But I should wish in these mattersTo crave licence of the English king,For he is the lordOf my landed estate;Wherefore I cannot go from his territoryWithout obtaining licence in this way.'The king assured the earlThat lie would give him his daughterWhen he should come to his aidTo Ireland with his barons.When they had concluded this accord,The king turned straight towards Wales,And never ceased journeying thereUntil he came to St. Davids.There the king abodeTwo or three days, I know not which,In order to equip his ships,for he wished to cross over to Ireland.But before King DermotCrossed over the salt sea,He spake to a king in WalesWho was very brave and courteous.This man was called Rhys,And was acknowledged King of Wales.At this time King RhysHad a knight of great renown.The king kept him in prison,Robert the son of Stephen was his name.In his prison he was keeping him,He wished him to submit.I know not how the king took him.In a castle in his country.Concerning him I will not here relateHow he was taken nor in what way;But the rich King DermotThen besought King RhysAs much as he could on behalf of the knightThat he might be able to depart freely.Not to tell you an untruthI know not if he was liberated then:At the request of the rich king,If he was liberated at that time;But afterwards the knightTo Ireland came to aid the king.Then King Dermot returns.To St. Davids as soon as he could.To Ireland then he crossedWith as many men as he had.But Dermot, the noble king,Did not bring with his warriors.Any Englishmen on this occasion,According to the account of my informant,Except one Richard, as I have heard say,A knight of Pembrokeshire,Richard the son of Godibert,A knight he was of good parts,Together with knights, archers and serjeants,But I know not up to what number.For they were not longIn Ireland, these men;For they were hardly able to do any good thereTo the king in the land,Because they were only a few menWho crossed over in haste.King Dermot then sent wordBy letter and by messenger,He sent over Morice Regan,His own interpreter.To Wales this man crossed over—The letters of King DermotWhich the king sent in all directions.To earls, barons, knights,Squires, serjeants, common soldiers,Horse-men and foot,In all directions the king sent word:—'Whoever shall wish for land or pence,Horses, armour, or chargers,Gold and silver, I shall give themVery ample pay;Whoever shall wish for soil or sodRichly shall I enfeoff them.'He would also give them sufficientFarm-stock and a handsome fief.When the letters were read,And the people understood them,Then Robert the son of StephenGot himself ready the first;He wished to cross over to IrelandIn order to aid King Dermot.Brave knights of great renownHe brought with him, nine or ten.One was Meiler the son of Henry,Who was very powerful;And Miles came there alsoThe son of the bishop of St. Davids.Knights came there and baronsWhose names for the most part I do not know.There crossed over a baronWith seven companions,Maurice de Prendergast was his name,As the song tells us.Hervey too, in truth, crossed over,He was of Mount-Maurice.About three hundred crossed overKnights and common folk besides.At Bannow they landedWith all their men.When they had landedAnd had all disembarked,They made their men encampOn the sea-shore.The English folk sent wordTo King Dermot by messengerThat at Bannow with three shipsThey had at that time landed,And that the king should speedilyCome there without delay.King Dermot by the direct roadTowards Bannow, next morning,Set out very joyfullyTo see the English folk.When the king had comeTo Bannow to his liegemen,One by one he kissed themAnd courteously saluted them.That night they tarriedOn the shore where they were;But the king on the morrowTowards Wexford directlyWent immediately, i'faith,To attack the town.In full force he attacked the city.The enemy in order to protect themselvesDefended themselves from without.At this attack the rich kingLost eighteen of his English;While the traitors at this timeLost of their men only three.All day while it was lightThe attack thus lastedUntil it became lateAnd the men departed.The men of Dermot the renownedTo their tents returned.But next day, the first thing,To King Dermot by messengerThe traitors announcedThat they would give him hostages,Would do him homage and fealtyIn the presence of his baronage,That with him they would be night and dayAs with their lawful lord.The king graciously acceptedThis offer in the presence of his men.By the advice of his English,The noble king accepted the offer.Thence King Dermot set outTowards Ferns, as soon as he could,In order to heal his woundedAnd to rest his barons.Three weeks King DermotAbode in the city:Three weeks he abodeClose by the city of Ferns.Then the king summonedRobert and Maurice, first of all,To come at once to confer with himSpeedily, without delay.When the barons were comeAnd Dermot had greeted themAnd brought them to the council,He related all to themHow the Irish of OssoryGreatly dreaded the English:'Lords Barons,' so said the king,'The Irish greatly dread you;Wherefore, brave Knights,With your advice in the first place,I wish to go to OssoryTo defeat my enemies.'The barons replied to himThat never would they be left behind,Nor would they in any way leaveThe traitors nor cease to seek for themUntil they had found themAnd defeated them in open field.Before the host advanced,Three thousand fighting menMade peace with King DermotThrough dread of the English.When the barons saw thisThat so many men followed theirs,Against the king of OssoryThey marched with the assembled host.Consider it not, my lords, as trivial:Bear with me a little while I tell youHow the king of LeinsterWith the men whom he had so boldWished to enter the countryWhere all his enemies were.His enemies are in front,Full five thousand fighting men,Whom the king of OssoryHad in his company.Mac Donnchadh, the traitor,Who was lord of Ossory,Had thrown up before himThree trenches wide and deep:Before hint, within a pass,Three trenches rapidlyHad the rebel thrown upAnd erected a stockade on top.There he offered battleTo King Dermot, without fail, that day.There the fight took placeFrom morning until eventideBetween the rebel king of OssoryAnd the English with great animosity.But the English in the endBy force and by energyHurled the traitors thence,By force and by strength.But many men were wounded there,Both killed and disabled,Ere the stockade was wonOr forcibly wrested from them.When King Dermot saw thisThat by the might of the EnglishThe pass was won in this wayWith his men of Leinster,He was full of confidence.The rich King Dermot at that timeWasted the land with fireIn order to destroy the rebel;He sought for spoil everywhereUp and down throughout the territory;As much as he could findOf the spoil he brought away with him.Then the king marched in a different wayIn order to seek the rebel Mac DonnchadhThan he did at that timeWhen he put on the cope,When he wished to parley and adviseWith the rebel O'Brien, the evil one.When the noble King DermotWished to return to his own country,Then the king calledThe three renowned barons:Robert he called by nameAnd Maurice, the baron,And Hervey de Mont-MauriceHe caused also to be called.These were at that timeChieftains of the English.'Lords,' quoth he, 'listen to meFor the love of God and hearken:Draw up your men in ranks,For well you know how to advise them.'The barons thereupon carried outFor the king all his command:Speedily they carried outAll the king's command.All the men of Hy KinsellaghThey entrusted to Donnell Kavanagh.He was son of the KingOf Leinster, as I trow.Whoever would wish to know the truth,He was the foremost in the van;While King Dermot himselfRemained with the English;For in them King DermotTrusted absolutely.Well armed were they, without doubt,And well skilled in battle.Now Donnell Kavanagh, in the first place,Was about to cross through a passWhere Dermot had formerly beenOn three occasions defeated.Wherefore the Irish dreadedLest they should be for the fourth timeDiscomfited and defeated.They therefore turned to flight,So that with Donnell, the king's son,There remained but forty-three.Mac Donnchadh of OssorySoon rallies towards him his men:He rallies his men speedilyTo discomfit the Englishmen.Know, Lords Barons,That the English at this timeHad descended into a valley,Both horse and foot soldiers.For it happened that they were obligedTo pass through the middle of this valley.Wherefore the English dreadedThe Irishmen at this timeLest they should rush upon themWithout delay, at this moment.For the English, as I hear,Were hardly more than three hundredAt that time with the king,And of the Irish, forty-three;While their opponents, of a truth,Were one thousand seven hundred.Wherefore it is not to be wondered atIf the brave knightsDreaded these peopleWho were swift as the wind.Then spake a baron:—Maurice de Prendergast was his name—'Lords Barons all,Let us pass through this valley promptlySo that we may be on the mountainOn the hard field, and on the open ground.For most of us are well armed,Bold vassals and combatants,While the traitors are quite naked,They wear neither hauberks nor breast-plates;Wherefore if we turn to hard groundThey shall have no protection from death.We shall strike manfully,And each togetherAnd all united shall strike,Footmen and horse,Against the men of OssoryWho will be opposed to us.Because if they are overthrownWe shall be for ever dreaded,And because there is no escapingEither life or death here.'This was the first pitched battleThat was fought, without doubt,Between the English baronsAnd the Irish of Ossory.And the Irish with great impetuosityFollowed the Englishmen.Then Maurice exclaimed:—'Robert Smith, come forward.I shall tell you what to do, friend:You shall have fifty archers;In this thicket, of a truth,You shall make an ambuscade for them,Until you shall be passed.The Irish who are behind,When these men shall have passed,If they dash on boldly,You shall make an attack on them behind,And we shall come to your aid.'And Robert replies to the baron:—'Sire, with the blessing of God!'Then they went into ambush,The forty men well armed.Lo! with great animosityAll the pride of OssoryCame pursuing themAnd eager for the battle.So much did these men exert themselvesThat they passed the ambuscadeWhere the forty veteransWere concealed in the thicket.When the former had passedBy estimation they were two thousand,And the forty archersDid not dare to show themselves;Because they were so few menThey lay hid without stirring.Then had Dermot, the rich king,Great fear for the EnglishLest they should be overthrownAnd brought to shame by the Irish.And the rich King DermotCalled Maurice to him,Very courteouslyhe besought himTo take care of these men:To take care of his friendsWho were left behind.Then the baron replied:—'Sire, at your command.Willingly shall I aid themAnd direct all my efforts thereto.'Maurice turns aside hereDraws the rein of Blanchard;And the Irish of OssoryFollowed the English menUntil they came into the plain,To the hard open country.Then they drew up their men in ranksAnd very skilfully marshalled them.Then Maurice shoutedAnd invoked Saint David.The son of Stephen turned,And Meiler, the renowned,And Miles the son of David,And Hervey de Mont Maurice,And the barons, knights,Squires, serjeants, and youths,Against the Irish turnedAnd invoked St David.And the traitors on their kneesAwaited the baronsThus in such a wayThat there was not at that timeA lance-length of groundBetween Dermot and the Irish.When the English by their valourHad grappled with the enemyThe Irish went away discomfitedOn that day from bad to worse.As I heard it, the truth can be told.One of the best was Meiler;In the battle that dayThere was none better than he.When the Irish saw thisWhom King Dermot broughtAnd who had earlier in the dayFled in fear to the woods,They returned speedilyTo their lord, these men:They joined in the combatAt the command of their lord.You must not regard it as folly:Eleven score of heads that dayWere brought to the king in the night,On the Barrow where he lay,Of his mortal enemiesWho were slain on the battle-field,Besides the killed and woundedWho were borne away from the field.When these were discomfitedOn the field they were left.To Dermot, the rich king,And to the English knightsThen spake a baron,Robert the son of Stephen was his name:—'Hearken unto me, valiant king,What I counsel with the will of God:That to-night you remain in this place,Since God has given you the graceThat you have, Sire, by the grace of God,Discomfited your enemies.As soon as day shall appearWe shall go to seek the traitor,Nor shall I ever stop beforeThat we go pursuing him.'The king replies plainlyThat this is not at all his pleasure:'Rather we shall go to LeighlinAt our ease along the direct road;Thus we shall carry our woundedWho lie hurt on the battle-field.'He turned to the cityWhich was called Leighlin.There they tarried for the nightTo their great joy and pleasure:By the Barrow they tarriedAnd lodged for the night.On the morrow the rich kingDeparted with his liege-men:Towards Ferns they turned;With them they carry their wounded.When they came to the city,Then they severally went their ways.To their hostels to lodgeThe knights returned.They sent everywhere for physiciansTo heal the sick:To heal their woundedThey sent everywhere for physicians.While the noble King DermotAbode in the city,From all the country round aboutHis enemies cane to himTo crave mercy of the kingFor having before completely betrayed him.And through the dread they hadOf the English who were with himThey gave many hostagesTo King Dermot, who was so bold.And very many made peaceThrough dread of the English.The greater part of LeinsterMade peace in this manner,Mac Donnchadh did not come in,Who was king of Ossory;Nor the traitor Mac Kelan,Who was king of Offelan;Nor Mac Torkil the traitor,Who was lord of Dublin;For they were in such dread of the kingThat they did not dare to make peace.Then the king speedilySummoned his men front all sides;Against Mac Kelan he wished to goTo shame and disgrace him.Then the king summonedThe three noble baronsTo come at once to speak to him,Speedily, without delay.Robert Maurice and HerveyPromptly came to him.The king then told themAnd by word of mouth described to themThat he would go to OffelanAgainst the traitor Mac Kelan,And that they should equip themselvesTo guard the person of the king.They replied courteously:'Sire, at your command.'When they were readyAnd had drawn up their men in ranks,As King Dermot himself was unwillingTo separate from the English,Donnell Kavanagh in close arrayLed the van.So much did they exert themselvesThat they entered Offelan,Plundered the whole country,And defeated Mac Kelan;The spoil they carried off,And conquered and harried the people.To Ferns then they turnedIn pride and power:Towards Ferns the king turnedWith great pride and pomp.At Ferns the noble kingStayed for eight whole days,And the brave English baronsWere all the time with the king.When the eighth day was passedThen the king summonedHis men throughout Hy Kinsellagh;He wished to march to Glendalough,He would plunder O'TooleFor having disdained to parley with him.When the host was assembled,Towards Glendalough they marched;And the king commandedBarons, knights and followersThat all should be readyAnd equipped for battle.Then they exclaimed:'Noble king, march forward!Avenge yourself, puissant king,On your mortal enemies.Noble king, march forward!You shall be well avenged;For never shall we fail youSo long as we shall live.'Then King Dermot marchesTowards Glendalough as fast as he could.When the king had comeWith his friends and comrades,Then he had the spoil takenWithout receiving or giving a blow.He set about returning home,Safe and sound, without hindrance;And the English alsoReturned quite safely.The king returned homeWith his men full of joy,To Ferns came the baronsWith all their companions.At Ferns the king abodeAs long as he pleased at that time.His men he summoned from all sidesTo come to Ferns to parley with him:Rich and poor, in the same way,All to come together.The men of Wexford cameAt the king's command.At Ferns was the host assembledWith arms furnished and prepared.Then the king summonedRobert and Maurice, first of all,Hervey and the baron Meiler,And all the other knights.The king took them into counsel:'Hear, Sir knights,Wherefore I summoned you here.To Ossory I wish to goTo confound the rebelWho has already done me high treason,To protect my land from the traitorThat lie may never reign over it,If I cannot avenge myself on himI shall have nothing but grief.'Then the barons said to him:'Sire, with God's blessing!'Then the king summonedDonnell Kavanagh, first of all—That he should place himself at the head in the vanWith five thousand fighting men,And then immediately afterwardsThese men of Wexford;While the rich king himselfRemained with his English.Through the midst of the land in this orderMarched the king of Leinster.Into Forth he cameAnd descended to a river.That night they took their hostelsUpon Mac Burtin up and down.The men of Wexford, you must know,Wrongfully hated the king.Owing to their own treacheryWhich they did of yore to their lord,The traitors dreadedThe noble king night and day;Wherefore they lodged by themselvesAnd night and day dreaded the king.In this way the noble king,Who was so gallant and courageous,Lay by the river of Mac Burtin,And all his host was there too.A Phantasm came upon them in the night,Which each one took for true.A vast and marvellous hostThrough the midst of the huts suddenlyCame upon then, well armedWith hauberks and with banded bucklers.Those in the huts then sallied forthTo defend themselves.A knight of the English host,Randolf Fitz Ralph I heard hint named—That night to keep armed watchRandolf the barn stood outside.The knight began greatlyTo wonder at this host;They thought that they were betrayedBy their mortal enemies.This man shouted loud and clear:—'St. David! Barons, Knights!'Then he drew his brand of steel.First of all, one of his companions,By a blow on the helmet,By force, he brought him to his knees;For he thought quite certainlyThat he belonged to the other side.Most of them thoughtThat they were the traitorsOf the city of Wexford,Who were really far off.This phantasm then departed,As I tell you;It passed by the campTo the men of Wexford.These thought that they were being entrappedBy Dermot, the noble king.But on the morrow they speedilyDrew up their men in ranks,By the rich king's command,As they were the day before.Against the king of OssoryWent the king with great eagerness.Mac Donnchadh quietlySummoned all his menTo the pass of Achadh-urTo come without gainsaying.A trench he then bade them throw upHigh and wide, steep and deep;And then at the back strengthen it with stakes,And in front with hurdles,In order to dispute the passageWith King Dermot of the bold heart.The king marched night and dayUntil he came near to Achadh-ur.By a river of great vehemenceThe warriors encamped,And the English of great worthEncamped round about.On the morrow they crossed the riverWithout a battle and without a contest:On the morrow they cross, beyond a doubt,Without a contest and without a battle.These men of WexfordCommenced the attack:They began to attack the stockade.For three whole days, i' faith,Somewhat half-heartedly these menAttacked the traitors.The stockade could not be carriedBy their attack in any way,Until the English menOn the third day, as I hear,Carried the stockade against themAnd put these men to flight.They fled as far as TubbridThrough the midst of the territory of Wenenath,And from thence as far as 'Bertun'Fled the rebel king.But Dermot, the puissant king,Went so far following the traitor—So far did he pursue the traitorThat he sent him on this wandering,Since he could not make a standAgainst King Dermot.Then Dermot, the renowned king,Laid waste the rebel's land,And carried off a great spoil with himTo the city of Ferns.Dermot, the potent king,Had subdued his country,Had defeated and discomfitedMost of his enemies;Through the English he was exaltedWith great pride and haughtiness.By the advice of his peopleHe wished to retain, as I hear,The soldiers of Maurice, the baron,According to the geste that we are reading.This man departed from King Dermot;Full two hundred he brought away with him:Of the English, in truth,Maurice brought away full two hundred.Towards Wexford he set out,He wished to cross the sea to Wales.Then the king sent wordTo Wexford by messenger:All the master marinersHe made obstruct MauriceSo that he could not cross the seaNor return to his own country.When Maurice learnt the news,He was in great trouble.He feared at this timeThat the traitors of WexfordWould fall upon himBy the counsel of the king, wrongfully.But Maurice speedilySo parleyed with these menOf Wexford cityThat they turned against the king.Maurice did not delay at all:He sent word to the king of OssoryThat he would come to him, without deceit,To serve him, if he wished it;For he had parted on bad termsFrom King Dermot whom he had served.When MacDonnchadh heardThat Maurice would come to him,He was rejoiced at the newsAnd leaped to his feet with joy.To the baron he straightway sent wordThat he should certainly come to him;Pay he would give himVery rich and ample.Then the baron departed,He and all his companions;Towards the town of TimolinThey took the direct road.But King Dermot's son,Donnell Kavanagh, to the best of his power,Attacked the baron on that dayWith full five hundred companions.A great conflict they hadMaurice's men on that day;But by force and by valourThey came to Timolin.For three days accordinglyMaurice abode there with his followers.Often did the king of OssorySend a message to these menThat he would come on the third dayWithout any further gainsaying.The king came there, of a truth,The third day without delay:Thither came the king of Ossory,Mac Donnchadh, with his company;And thereupon the kingAssumed a friendly manner towards Maurice.Maurice and all his menSaluted the king courteously.The king and his chief menMade oath to the English:To the English they swore, in short,On altar and on shrine,That they would never betray themAs long as they should be with them.Donnchadh accordingly brought awayMaurice and all his followers:Into Ossory the king broughtMaurice and his company;While Robert remained with DermotWith as many men as he had,And Hervey just in the same wayWith his force and his men.Mac Donnchadh day and nightHarried Dermot's territory:With the aid of Maurice and his followersHe then laid waste the territory of the king.There the baron receivedThe name of Maurice of Ossory:Thus the Irish of this countryAlways called him,In that he had come to OssoryAnd remained with the king.About Maurice I shall here stop;About a baron I wish to tell,The son of Gerald: Maurice was his name.The baron had landed:He landed at WexfordWith a goodly force and many followers;In order to aid King DermotHe had landed at Wexford.Then the baron sent wordTo the king that he had landed.Dermot heard the news,For a long time none so good had come to him.The king, with prick of spur,To meet the baronSet out straight to the harbour,To the coast of Wexford.When the rich king saw him,He straightway said to him:—'Be very welcome, baron,Son of Gerald, Maurice by name.'The latter then replies:—'God bless you, valiant king!'To Ferns they depart joyfullyThe king and Maurice as well.Now the king of OssoryAt this time had gone to LeixAgainst the lord of that territoryTo prevent his making war on him.O'More was the name of the lordWho held Leix at that day.Mac Donnchadh with his EnglishWas about to harry all Leix,When O'More, its lord,With Mac Donnchadh fixed a day:A day he fixed for him there,He would give hostages of his country.Not more than three or four daysWould be delay the king there.He would give five or six hostagesThe noblest of his territory.The king granted this to him,And abode there for three days.O'More speedily sent wordTo King Dermot that these menBy force and by warHad entered into his territory,And that he should come there promptlyTo give him speedy succour.Dermot, king of Leinster,To Robert and to Fitz GeraldAll that O'More had announcedTold to the two barons;And they then said to the king:—'Speedily and without any respiteGet your men equipped.There is reason, Sire, for no delay.'The king then had it proclaimed aloudThat all who could bear armsShould follow him at once.The king then mounts horse.The three barons likewiseFollowed the king with their men,Nor did they stop from there to Leix,Where the king of Ossory was.Now the king of OssoryLay in a flowery moor,While King DermotCame against him, and the son of Gerald;But he knew not, of a truth,That men were coming against him.So while the King Mac DonnchadhAnd Maurice of OssoryLay in a moorWhich was very beautiful and extensive,Maurice de Prendergast, at length,Thought one morningThat O'More, the lord of Leix,Was going to betray King Mac Donnchadh,If he could in any wayObtain a force out of Leinster.Then lo! there comes a scoutTo the king of Ossory;He told him that King DermotWith as large a force as he couldWas bringing the son of Stephen with himAnd Maurice the son of Gerald,And that full three hundred EnglishHad come with him to Leix,Besides all the other menWho came by tenure.Then commenced to speakMaurice de Prendergast first:—'Let us go, lord king.Too many Englishmen follow us,And we have only a few men;Wherefore let us go in close array.If they approach us at all,Well shall we be able to defend ourselves.'Then the king went awayFrom the territory of O'More of LeixBy the advice of his friendMaurice, of whom you have heard.Speedily King Dermot,To whom Leinster belongs,Together with Robert and MauriceFollowed then these men;But they did not come up with them;For they had crossed the pass,Mac Donnchadh of OssoryAnd Maurice in whom he trusts.Then Dermot, the puissant king,To Ferns went in all haste:To Ferns he returned;Hostages he brought with him:Hostages he brought at this timeFrom O'More the lord of Leix.Mac Donnchadh with his companyReturned to Ossory.Then they separatedSafe and sound in their country.And the men of OssoryWere much discontentedThat they had to hire soldiersAnd to give their pay to the English.The traitors accordingly began to plot,One behind, another in front;They resolve to betray MauriceAnd to part his treasure among them:For their gold and silverThey resolved to murder these men.Thus they had plottedTreachery all in secret.Accordingly they came before the king,Young and old, bald and hairy:'Hear us, king, good lord!Maurice we wish, at length, to put to death;We have a sufficiently good peace;Of them we have no further need.'And the king replied:—'Please God and his mightThat they may never be betrayed by me,Murdered, killed, disgraced, or taken!'To the king came the baron,Knowing nothing of the treacheryThen indeed he demandedOf the king free licenceThat he might return home to his country.The king, be sure, with much regretGave leave to the knightTo return to his country;But the king besought him muchTo remain with him still.Maurice replied to the king:—'The English wish to cross over:They wish to cross the high seaTo visit their friends.'Then the king departed,According to the geste which you now hear;To Fertakerach he went, I think,While the English at KilkennyRemained that nightWith great joy and in great commotion;While all the wicked traitorsOf that territory round aboutWent to plash the passesThrough which they had to pass.But as God willed itThat Maurice should be forewarnedOf the great crimeThat these men of Ossory did,The baron caused to be summonedAll his companions to him.When they were assembled,And Maurice told themHow the men of OssoryBy their great treacheryHad contrived an ambuscade for themWith two thousand men well armed:How the Irish are in front of themWith two thousand fighting men'In a strong place in order to obstruct usThat we cannot pass that way.Take counsel, Sir barons,Concerning this affair how we shall act.'They all replied:—'Let the counsel rest with you.'To their hostels they returnedWhere they were before lodged.Very quietly they kept themselves,As though they knew nothing about it.Then Maurice of OssoryTo the Seneschal of Mac Donnchadh—To the Seneschal sent wordThat for half a year or a quarterHe was willing to remain with the king,As they had previously been.Speedily the king sent wordThat he would come to parley with the English.When was spread and publishedThe news throughout the country,That Maurice had remainedWith the king of that country,The traitors returned homeFrom the pass where they were in ambush.In the night when they were asleepMaurice then sent wordBy a private pageThat all the barons should take horse,Archers, squires, and sergeants,Both small and great.Those who wished to cross overSoon equipped themselves:They got themselves readyNor would they delay any longer.Towards the sea they turnedTo cross to their own countries.To the city of Waterford,As fate led them,The knights cameSafe and sound and none missing.There the barons stayedWith all their companions.But there they were hinderedThrough a man who was wounded:—For a foot-soldierHad wounded a citizen,Who afterwards died of the wound.Nor did they consider it as sportThe citizens of the cityOf Waterford, as I have mentioned.There they were arrestedAll the illustrious barons;But by the counsel of their lordMaurice, who was their pleader,And by his good sense and tact,Maurice enabled them all to cross over.In Wales they all landedSafe and sound, joyous and glad.About these men we shall here leave off,About King Dermot we shall tell you.I wish to tell of King DermotHow he delivered WexfordTo a noble baron,The son of Stephen, Robert the baron.And Maurice the son of GeraldFortified himself at Carrick,By the permission and by the desireOf Dermot, the potent king.Then soon afterwardsEarl Richard sent overSome of his men to Ireland,With nine or ten of his barons.The first was Raymond le Gros,A bold and daring knight.At Dundonuil they landedWhere they then constructed a fortBy the permission of the rich kingDermot, who was so courteous.There Raymond le Gros remainedWith his knights and barons.Then he plundered the territory,Took and killed the cows.But the men of WaterfordAnd of Ossory likewiseAssembled their hosts;Against Dundonuil they resolved to goIn order to attack the fort.They think surely to shame the English.Donnell O'Phelan of the Decies,And O'Ryan of Odrone,And all the Irish of the countrySurrounded the fort.By estimation the Irish wereAs many as three or four thousand;Raymond and his menWere not more than a hundred.They drove the cows into the fortBy the counsel of Raymond.The men of WaterfordCame very fiercelyTo demolish the fort;They think to disgrace the English.Raymond speaks to his men:—'Sir barons, hearken to me.You see your enemies comingWho have resolved to attack you.It is more honourable for you hereThan within to be killed or taken.Come now, do you all arm yourselves,Knights, sergeants, and archers;Thus shall we place ourselves in open fieldIn the name of the Almighty Father.'The knights and the barons,By the advice of Raymond le Gros,Resolved to sally from the gatesIn order to charge the Irish.The cows were scaredAt the men who were armed;And owing to the tumult that they madeThe cows all in frontBy force and by strengthSallied forth at the gate.This was the first companyThat sallied from the fort, I trow.Upon the Irish they rushedIn a short space, in a few moments.The Irish could not stand against them:They were forced to separate;And Raymond with his EnglishThrew himself amid the Irish.Wherefore they were divided,The Irish were discomfited,So that the last companyFled away through this fright.There they were discomfitedAll the Irish of this district.On the field a thousand were leftVanquished, killed, wounded, or taken.By the force and by the strengthThat the good Jesus created against themAnd through dread and through fearThey were enfeebled that day.Of the Irish there were takenQuite as many as seventy.But the noble knightsHad them beheaded.To a wench they gaveAn axe of tempered steel,And she beheaded them allAnd then threw their bodies over the cliff,Because she had that dayLost her lover in the combat.Alice of Abervenny was her nameWho served the Irish thus.In order to disgrace the IrishThe knights did this.And the Irish of the districtWere discomfited in this way.To their country they returnedOutdone and discomfited:To their country they returnedDiscomfited and outdone.At Dundonuil remained RaymondHe and all his companions,And Hervey de Mont MauriceAnd Walter Bluet likewise.They kept very much to themselves,As against these lrishmen.According to the statement of the old people,Very soon afterwards Earl RichardLanded at Waterford.Full fifteen hundred men he brought with him.On the eve of St. BartholomewDid the earl land.The most powerful persons in the cityWere called Ragnald and Sidroc.On St. Bartholomew's day,Earl Richard, the prudent,Took by assault and wonThe city of Waterford.But there were many killed thereOf the citizens of WaterfordBefore that it was wonOr taken by assault against them.When the earl by his powerHad taken the city,The earl immediately sent wordTo King Dermot by messengerThat he had come to WaterfordAnd had won the city,That the rich king should come to himAnd should bring his English.King Dermot speedilyCame there, be sure, right royally.The king in his companyBrought there many of his barons,And his daughter he brought there;To the noble earl he gave her.The earl honourablyWedded her in the presence of the people.King Dermot then gaveTo the earl, who was so renowned—Leinster he gave to himWith his daughter, whom he so much loved,Provided only that he should have the lordshipOf Leinster during his life.And the earl grantedTo the king all his desire.Then they turned asideThe king and Earl Richard.Raymond le Gros joined them.A bold and daring knight,And Maurice de PrendergastLikewise, as I hear;For with the earl, of a truth,He had returned, as people say.By the advice of the earlThe warrior had returned.At this council in soothWas Meiler the son of Henry,And many a brave knightWhose names I cannot mention.There all the brave knightsProceeded to adviseThat they should go straight to DublinAnd should assault the city.Then the king departedTowards Ferns with his English.He caused his men to be summonedEverywhere and in great force.When they were all assembled,Towards Waterford they set out directly.Earl Richard then gaveThe city in charge of his men:In Waterford he then leftA portion of his followers.Then they turned towards DublinThe king and the renowned earl.Now all the pride of IrelandWas at Clondalkin in a moor,And the king of ConnaughtWas at Clondalkin at this time.In order to attack the EnglishHe divided his troops.They plashed the passes everywhereIn order to obstruct the English,So that in fact they should not comeTo Dublin without hostility.And king Dermot was warnedBy a scout whom he had sentThat the Irish were in frontAbout 30,000 strong.King Dermot sent to askThe earl to come to parley with him.The earl speedilyCame promptly to the king.'Sir Earl,' thus spake the king,'Hearken to me at this time:Draw up your men in ranksAnd marshal your sergeants.We shall now go by the mountainOn the hard field and on the open ground;For the woods are plashedAnd the roads trenched across,And all our enemies of IrelandAre before us in a moor.'The earl then summonedAll the brave knights.Miles came to him, first of all,A noble and brave warrior:Miles had the name de CoganAnd his body was bold and burly.He was at the head in frontWith seven hundred English soldiers;And Donnell Kavanagh likewiseRemained with these men.And then afterwards Raymond le GrosWith about eight hundred companions.In the third company the rich kingWith about a thousand Irish.And Richard, the courteous earl,Had with him three thousand English.In this company there were aboutFour thousand vassals, I trow.In the rear-guard the kingHad the Irish drawn up in ranks.They were all well armed,The renowned English barons.By the mountain did the kingGuide the English host that day.Without a battle and without a contestThey arrived at the city.Moreover the city was that dayTaken beyond gainsaying:The day of St. Matthew the ApostleThe city of Dublin was burning.When the Irish saw thisThat King Dermot was comeAnd the earl alsoWith all his English troops,And that the illustrious liege baronsHad surrounded the city,The king of Connaught went awayWithout a word at this time,And the Irish from this districtTo their country departed.Hasculf MacTorkil, the deceiver,Remained in the city that day,In order to defend the cityOf which he was acknowledgedSire, lord, and defender,Through all the country.Outside the walls of the cityWas the king encamped;While Richard, the good earl,Who was lord of the English,Remained with his EnglishAnd with King Dermot himself.Nearest to the cityWas Miles encamped,The good Miles de CoganWho was afterwards lord of Mount Brandon,Which is the wildest spot,Mountain or plain, in the world.Now Dermot, the noble king,Despatched Morice Regan,And by Morice proclaimedTo the citizens of the cityThat without delay, without any respite,They should surrender without gainsaying:Without any further gainsayingThey should surrender themselves to their lord.Thirty hostages demandedKing Dermot of the city.But those within, i'faith,Could not separate among themselvesThe hostages of the cityWho should be delivered to the king.Hasculf accordingly made answerTo Dermot, the renowned king,That on the morrow speedilyHe would perform all his command.It greatly vexed the baron,The good Miles de Cogan,That the parley lasted so longBetween the king and all his people.Miles shouted all at once'Barons, knights, A Cogan!'Without the king's commandAnd without the earl's either,He attacked the city.The baron Miles with his followersWith audacity and with great furyThen set upon the city.The baron Miles, the renowned,By main force took the city.Before that Dermot knew it that dayOr Richard the good earl,Had Miles, the strong-limbed baron,Actually entered into Dublin,Had already conquered the city,And put MacTorkil to flight.And the men of DublinFled away by the sea;But many remained thereWho were killed in the city.Much renown acquired that dayMiles who was of such worth;And the renowned baronsFound much wealth:In the city they foundMuch treasure and other wealth.Thereupon there cameThe king and the earl riding quickly:To the city they cameThe king and the earl together.And Miles, the renowned baron,To the earl gave up the city:The city Miles gave up,And the earl thereupon received it.Much provision they foundAnd good victuals in great plenty.The earl then abodeWhile he pleased in the city;And the king returnedTo Ferns in his own country.But on the festival of St. Remy,When August was over,Soon after Michaelmas,Richard, the noble earl,To Miles delivered, you must know,The wardship of the city.To Waterford he set outThe earl and his ample suite.There the earl abodeSo long as it pleased him.At Ferns then tarriedKing Dermot during this winter.The king, who was so noble,Lies buried at Ferns.All the Irish of the countryRevolted against the earl.Of the Irish at this timeThere remained with him only three:Donnell Kavanagh, in the first place,Who was brother to his wife,O'Reilly of Tirbrun,And thirdly Auliffe O'Garvy;While the Irish of Hy Kinsellagh,Who were with King Murtough,They then stirred up a great warAgainst the earl of Leinster.And the rich king of ConnaughtSummoned to himThe Irish of all IrelandIn order to lay siege to Dublin.They came on the dayThat their lord had appointed for them.When they were assembledThey were sixty thousand strong.At Castleknock, at this time,Was the rich king of Connaught;And MacDunlevy of UlsterPlanted his standard at Clontarf;And O'Brien of MunsterWas at Kilmainham with his brave men;And Murtough, as I hear,Was near Dalkey with his men.The earl, you must know, at this timeWas within the city, of a truth.The son of Stephen promptly sentSome of his men to the earl:In order to aid and succour himHe sent men to him at this crisis.When Robert had sentAbout thirty-six of his menTo aid the earl Richard,Who was the subject of such anxiety,The traitors without any delayFell upon Robert.In the town of WexfordThey wrongfully slew his men:His men they utterly betrayed,Killed, cut to pieces, and brought to shame.Within a castle on the Slaney,According to what the geste here tells,The traitors took RobertAnd put him in prison at Begerin:Five knights, in short,They imprisoned in Begerin.And there came Donnell KavanaghAnd the Irish of Hy Kinsellagh:To Dublin he cameTo the noble earl at this juncture.With him came O'Reilly,And Auliffe also.To the earl they told all,How Robert was imprisoned,And how his men were slain,Discomfited, and treacherously killed.The earl thereupon replies:—'Donnell, let it not appear,Let it not appear, my friend,That our men are brought to shame.'The earl then summonedThe the lord councillorsTo come to him at once to adviseSpeedily, without delaying.There came Robert de Quency,And Walter de Riddlesford came,A brave and noble warrior;Maurice de Prendergast alsoCame, as I hear;And there came the good Miles,Under heaven there was no better baron;And Meiler the son of Henry,And Miles the son of David,And Richard de Marreis came there,Noble and courteous knights;And Walter Bluet came there;Knights barons as many as twenty:All the barons of great worthCame to their lord.When the renowned baronsWere assembled in council,The earl sought counselOf all his kinsfolk and friends.'My lords,' thus spake the valiant earl,'May God of Heaven protect us!You see, my lords, your enemiesWho have now besieged you here.We shall have hardly anything to eatBefore the fortnight is out:(For the measure of cornWas sold for a silver mark,And for a measure of barleyOne got at that time half a mark:)Wherefore, Sir Knights,Let us send a message to the king.'Then the renowned earlSent a message to the kingThat he would become his manAnd would hold Leinster of him.'Come now, free-born lords,To the king of Connaught two vassalsBy your counsel we shall despatch,And we shall send the archbishop,That I shall be willing to do fealty to him,And will hold Leinster of him.'An archbishop they sent,Who was afterwards called St. Laurence.The archbishop they then sentAnd Maurice de Prendergast with him.To the king they accordingly announcedThe message of the earl.Thereupon the king said to themWithout taking time or respite:He answered to the messengerThat he would by no means do this;No more than WaterfordDublin and Wexford aloneWould he leave to Earl RichardOf all Ireland as his share;Not a whit more would he giveTo the earl or to his followers.The messengers turned backTo the city of Dublin:The messengers returnedSpeedily without delaying.Aloud they tell their messageIn the hearing of all the barons:To the earl they told completelyThe reply of the haughty king:—That he would not give him more landIn the whole of Leinster,Except only the three citiesWhich I have already named to you;And if this did not meet his pleasureThey would attack the city;If he would not accept this offerThe king would hear no more,For on the morrow, so said the king,The English would be attacked.When the earl had heardWhat the archbishop related,Then the earl caused to be summonedMiles de Cogan the light of limb:'Make all your men arm, barons,Sally forth in the foremost van;In the name of the Almighty FatherIn the foremost van sally forth.'About forty horsemenAre with Miles before in the front,Sixty archers and one hundred sergeantsHad Miles under his orders.And then next, Raymond le GrosWith forty companions,And he had one hundred fighting-menAnd three-score archers.And then next, the good earlWith forty fighting-menWith one hundred hardy sergeantsAnd three-score archers.Very well armed they wereHorsemen, sergeants, and hired soldiers.When the earl had sallied forthWith his friends and his comrades,Miles placed himself at the head in the vanWith two hundred fighting vassals;And then next Raymond le GrosWith about two hundred companions;In the third company the noble earlWith two hundred hardy vassals.Donnell Kavanagh, of a truth,Auliffe O'Garvy likewise,And O'Reilly of Tirbrun,Of whom you have already heard,Were in the van with Miles,As the Song tells us.But the Irish of the districtKnew nought of this affair:Of the barons thus armed,And equipped for battle.Miles de Cogan very quicklyBy the direct road towards FinglasTowards their stockades thereuponSet out at a rapid pace.When Miles had drawn nearTo where the Irish were encamped,'A Cogan!' he shouted aloud,'Strike, in the name of the Cross!Strike, barons, nor delay at all,In the name of Jesus the son of Mary!Strike, noble knights,At your mortal enemies!'The renowned liege baronsAt their huts and cabinsAttacked the IrishAnd fell upon their tents;And the Irish unarmedFled through the moors:Throughout the country they fled awayLike scattered cattle.Raymond le Gros alsoOft invoked St. David,And went pursuing the IrishTo work his will upon them;And Richard the good earlDid so well that day,So well did the earl do,That all were astonished;And Meiler the son of Henry,Who was of such renown,Bore himself so bravelyThat men wondered.A hundred and more were slainWhile bathing where they were beset,And more than one thousand five hundredOf these men were slain,While of the English there was woundedOnly one foot-sergeant.The field remained that dayWith Richard, the good earl,And the Irish departedDiscomfited and outdone:As God willed, at that time,The field remained with our English.So much provision did they find,Corn, meal, and bacon,That for a year in the cityThey had victuals in abundance,To the city with his menThe earl went very joyfully.Earl Richard, light of limb,Makes preparations for his journey.To Wexford he resolved to goTo set free the baron.The baron the son of StephenThe traitors hold in prison:The traitors of Wexford hold him, in short,Imprisoned in Begerin.The wardship of Dublin he gaveTo the good Miles the warrior.Then the earl proceededTowards Wexford night and day.So much did the earl accomplishBy his day's marches, and so far go,For so many nights and so many daysThat he tame to Odrone.Now the Irish of the districtWere assembled at the pass:To meet the earl RichardAt one side they were assembled:To attack the EnglishWere the Irish assembled.The earl Richard with his menThrough the midst of the pass in safetyThought surely to advance,When an obstacle met him.The rebel king of Odrone,O'Ryan was his name,Shouted out loudly:'To your destruction, Englishmen, have you come!'He rallied his men to him,And attacked the English sharply;And the English, of a truth,Manfully defended themselves.But Meiler, the son of HenryCarried the prize that day:In the battle, knew in sooth,There was no better than the son of Henry.And much renowned that dayWas Nichol, a cowled monk;For with an arrow he slew that dayThe lord of Odrone:By an arrow, as I tell you,Was O'Ryan slain that day.And Meiler, the strong-limbed baron,Was stunned by a blowOf a stone in this fight,So that he reeled to the ground.But when O'Ryan was slainThe Irish separated.This wood was afterwards namedAnd called the earl's pass,Because the earl was attacked thereBy his enemies.Thence the earl turnedTowards Wexford cityTo liberate the imprisoned Robert,Of whom I have before told you.But the perfidious traitorsWould not deliver him up to the earl.To Begerin they fledAnd Wexford they set on fire.For the sea ran entirelyAll around Begerin;Werefore the noble earl,Could not, i' faith, get at them.Then the earl set outTowards Waterford with his followers.To the king of Limerick he sent wordBy his sealed lettersThat he should come to OssoryWith all his baronageAgainst MacDonnchadh the kingWho held sway in Ossory.For the king of Limerick hadA daughter of the rich king Dermot;A daughter of Dermot on the other handEarl Richard had to wife;So that they had to wife two sistersKing O'Brien and the earl.He came in great forceInto Ossory with his men.Earl Richard, the good earl,Went to meet O'Brien that dayTo Idough with his brave men,To meet the king of Munster,Where there were about two thousand menOf the noble earl and King O'Brien.MacDonnchadh sent a messengerTo the earl to tell himThat he would of his own accord comeTo the earl, to whom he would redressThe outrage and the wrongWith which the barons had upraided him.To the earl he would come, in short, to parley,On condition that he could freely return,Provided that Maurice the baronOf Prendergast, as we tell in our song,Should take him by the hand upon his faith.To safe-conduct the rich king,And Maurice at onceTo the earl speedilyWent; the noble baronObtained from the earl peace for the king.The earl replied to him:—'Maurice, you do wrong to fear;Make the king come to me;When it shall please him he can depart.'And Maurice, as I trow,From each baron individuallyExacted an oathThat he might bring him securely,And that in safety he could departWhenever it should please him.And Maurice, the vassal,Then mounted his horse,And straightway departedTo meet the king with all speed.To the court he then brought himBefore the earl in safety.The earl then accused him—As did all the renowned barons,—MacDonnchadh of Ossory,Of his great treachery:In what manner he had betrayedThe good Dermot, the noble king.King O'Brien counselsThe noble earl, the warrior,That he should have the traitor seizedAnd should have him consigned to infamy;And the barons, i'faith,Were all willing to consent thereto.And King O'Brien of MunsterSent his men through the land:Made his men go everywhereTo plunder the land,While MacDonnchadh wasBefore the earl and was pleading.When Maurice, the baron,Was warned of this treachery,He sent word to his men everywhereThat they should arm themselves quickly.Then Maurice exclaimed:'Barons, what are you meditating?Ye have broken your oaths,Towards me ye are forsworn.'To his followers Maurice said:'To horse, illustrious cavaliers!'Maurice by his sword swareThat there was no vassal so boldAs on the king that dayShould lay a hand to his dishonourBut, right or wrong,Should have his head struck in two.And Richard, the valiant earl,To the baron Maurice thereuponGave up MacDonnchadh,And delivered him by the hand.Then the baron mounts horse,He and all his companions;The king they brought at lengthTo the woods in safety.They met O'Brien's menWho had spoiled the land,And Maurice then slewNine or ten of these men;And by force and by valourFrom his lord's courtDid Maurice and his followersBring the king to the wood that day.And Maurice de Prendergast layWith MacDonnchadh that night,But next day in the morningMaurice returnedTo the court of his lordWho was of so great worth.The barons blamed MauriceFor having brought the king to the wood,In that he was the mortal enemyOf Richard the good and lawful earl;For this king by his warCast out Dermot from Leinster.And Maurice folded his gloveAnd gave it to his lord as a pledgeThat he would redress in his courtWhatever transgression he had committed.And the renowned English vassalsWent sufficient security for him.When they had finished this pleadingKing O'Brien goes to Limerick.The earl then set outStraight to the city of Ferns.Eight days he abode there,The noble earl and his baronage.Then the earl sent in all directionsSquires, sergeants, and attendants;Murtough O'Brien they go to seekUp and down throughout the land.So well did they seek him through the countryThat they found him, in truth, and took him.Straight to the city of FernsThey then led the rebel O'BrienTo the earl they then delivered him,O'Brien the convicted traitor.Because the rebel had betrayedDermot his rightful lord,The earl had him beheadedAnd his body then thrown to the hounds.The dogs wholly devoured himAnd ate up his flesh.And one of his sons Donnell KavanaghHad taken and brought to the earl.At Ferns they were both put to deathIn the presence of the people of that district.The Irish king of Hy KinsellaghThen made peace with the earl;This was the rebel MurtoughWho was then king of Hy Kinsellagh.The earl then granted to himThe kingdom of Hy Kinsellagh;The pleas of Leinster he entrustedTo Donnell Kavanagh, the son of Dermot.These two were called kingsOf the Irish of the country.In Ireland there were several kings,As elsewhere there were earls;But whoever holds Meath and LeinsterAnd Desmond and MunsterAnd Connaught and Ulster,Which the six brothers formerly held,Those who hold these are head-kingsOf Ireland, according to the Irish.When the earl had appeasedThe Irish of the country,Then the English king sentTo the earl to announceThat, without delay, without gainsaying,Without taking time or respite,The earl should come speedilyTo speak to him at once.And the earl at this junctureTo Miles gave the custody of Dublin:A city much renowned,Which was formerly called Ath-Cliath.And the custody of the city of Waterford,Which was called Port-Lairge,The noble Earl Richard gave :To Gilbert de Boisrohard.The earl then got ready,He resolved to cross over to England;The noble earl resolved to cross overTo speak to King Henry:To King Henry Curt-Mantel,Who was his rightful lord,His ships he then equippedTo traverse the waves.He resolved to cross the high seas,He will go to speak to the English king.So much did the earl hastenThat he soon crossed the sea.In Wales he landed,The earl who was so much dreaded.Earl Richard at this timeAt Pembroke found the rich king.The noble earl of great worthInto the presence of his lord,With his friends and his comradesInto the presence of his lord came.The noble earl saluted himIn the name of the Son of the King of MajestyAnd the king graciouslyMade answer to Earl Richard.The king thereupon replied:'May God Almighty bless you!'Now, as it was told to me,The earl was somewhat embroiled:The noble earl of great worthWas embroiled with his lord.Through the lies of peopleAnd through evil instigationWas Richard, the noble earl,Somewhat embroilled with King Henry.Nevertheless the rich kingTowards the earl assumed a friendly manner.The rich king at this timeMade no show of anger;But King Henry, who was the empress' son,Honoured him much.Then while the warriorRemained with his lord,Lo! a rebel thereuponTo Dublin came sailing.Below Dublin he landed,Hasculf MacTorkil with a hundred ships.He brought many men with him:About twenty thousand he got ready.From the Isles they came and from Man;And from Norway came John.A brave man, John the Wode,MacTorkil brought with him.He was nephew of the rich kingOf Norway, according to the Irish.At the Steine they landed,Hasculf and John the Wode.Outside Dublin cityWere these men encamped.In order to attack the cityThey disembarked their men.The good Miles armed himself,He and all his companions.The noble man resolved to defend himselfSo long as he could have defence:With the aid of Almighty GodHe resolved to defend himself against these men.Then behold! a kingOf this country, an Irishman,Gilmoholmock was his name,He was at peace with the good Miles;With Miles he came to parley,To ask counsel of the baron.For Miles of the bold heartHeld hostages of this king,That he would hold with the earlLoyally night and day.The good Miles said to the king:'Hearken, Sire, a moment.I shall deliver up your hostages to youSafe and sound and all complete:You shall have your hostages on conditionThat you do what I tell you,On condition that you aidNeither us nor them at all,But that you stand to one side of usAnd watch the battleFrom the side with your men,So that you may see clearlyThe contest and the battleBetween us and them, without fail.And if God grants it to usThat these men be discomfited,Then that you aid us with your forceTo overthrow them;And if we be recreantThat you aid their men in all thingsTo cut us to pieces and slay usAnd hand our men over to destruction.'The king granted this to him,Pledged his faith and swareThat all that Miles said to himThe king would do without any delay.Gilmoholmock thereuponOutside the city instantlyPosted himself, in truth, the kingWith the men of his district.On the summit of the Howe over the Stein,In a plain, outside the city,To watch the contestThey were assembled:To watch the combatGilmoholmock posted himself that day;In an open place, of a truth,He posted himself with his followers.Lo! John the WodeTowards Dublin with serrid ranks,Towards the city with his men,Against the eastern gate,Towards St. Mary's gate,They then attacked the city.Now Miles, with the undaunted mien,Had a brother, a brave baron.Richard was his name,Brother he was to good Miles.He armed himself well,With him about thirty horsemen.Through the western entranceThey issued quite secretly,So that none knew of it,Not a single one except his brother.And Miles marshalled his men,He wished to defend the city,The sergeants he made go in frontTo hurl their lances and shoot their arrows.These men close to the wallsIn order to defend the battlementsThereupon turned,Both archers and sergeants.And Miles, who was so daring,With all his knights of worthWere mounted on their horsesWith arms furnished and prepared.John's men with great furyThen fell upon the city,And the English of great worthDefended themselves well that day.And Richard cameBefore that they were perceived,Upon the guard that was behind;Loudly he shouted.Richard thereupon shouts:'Strike, valiant knights!'And the barons with great forceThrew themselves into the throng.Very great was the contestAnd the hue and cry.And John then scentedThe noise of those behind and the shouting;From the city he departed,He wished to succour his friendsWho were left behind,Nine or ten thousand, I know not which.They departed from the city,This John and his followers,To succour their men behindThat they should not be outdone.And Miles, the renowned,Made a sortie from the city:Made a sortie with his men,With about three hundred armed vassalsBesides all his other followers,Archers, sergeants and foot-soldiers.Before Miles made his sortieFive hundred were laid low;And these five hundred were woundedSo that they shall never be healed.When Miles came upAnd the strong-limbed English vassals,Miles then shouted out:'Strike, renowned barons!Strike, vassals, speedily,Spare not these men!'When Miles was on the field,He and all his companions,Very much emboldened wereThe hardy English vassals:As God Almighty willed it,By his power which is so great,According to the statement of the history,To the English he gave the victory.But of the English on that dayWas Richard the flower of all.A very severe punishment there wasOf these men near the sea.Thereupon they fled,Both small and great,From this great hue that they had brought on,Hasculf and John the Wode.When Gilmoholmock, you must know, the kingSaw the Northmen take to flight,Both those from the Isles and those from Man,The followers of Hasculf and of John,And the king perceived for certainThat they were discomfited,To his feet the king leaped,And with a loud voice shouted:'Up now, brave sirs!Let us aid the free-born EnglishUp now, quickly! we shall aidGood Richard and Miles.'And the Irish thereuponWent in all directions slaying:Slaying they went in all directionsWith their javelins and their dartsThese men who had comeWith Hasculf, the old hoary-head.And these went away discomfitedTo the woods and moors and wastes.Why should I say more?Fifteen hundred to their destructionWere left on that day,Dead and miserably hacked.Indeed, some people sayTwo thousand brave warriorsWere, in truth, left that dayWho were previously slain on the battle-field.Now this John the WodeWas a very renowned warrior;For this John in the contestWith a well-tempered axeStruck a knight that dayWhose thigh he chopped off:With his axe of hard ironHe chopped the thigh off to the ground.He slew that day aboutNine or ten of our English.But the good Miles de CoganKilled the aforesaid John.And Richard that day, without fail,Took Hasculf prisoner in the battle.And the fields and the wastesWere covered with the slain.Know all for certain, without fail,There was in the battle that dayGreat destruction, in short,And ruin at the hands of the English.A goodly treasure the English gainedOf silver and gold;And Miles and his followersReturned to Dublin.When they came to the cityThey then beheaded Hasculf;On account of his outrageous conductThey rightfully beheaded him:On account of his insolence and mad sayings,After Richard had taken him prisoner,They speedily beheaded him,In the presence of the sea-folk.The Northmen fled awayOver mountain and plain;To the ships they turned their skiffs,They fully thought to cross the sea;But the English are behind themTo dispute their ships with them.If you had been there on that day,Of the men of Hasculf the traitorYou would have seen five hundred plungeInto the depths of the sea.Thus, of a truth, wereThe sea-folk discomfited.The English by the aid of GodHad that day won the field.Their enemies were scattered,Killed, wounded, and discomfited.To their country, of a truth,Of these NorthmenThere returned only two thousandTo claim their rights.Here we shall leave the storyOf the good Richard and of Miles;Of the English king we shall tell you,Of Henry with the stern aspect.As soon as the king came to the seaAt Pembrokeshire, in order to cross over,Lo! then at the harbourTwelve traitors from WexfordCame to land in a boatAt Pembroke close under the castle.As soon as they had landed,Towards the castle they turned;The caitiffs wanted to speakTo king Henry Curt-Mantel.So far did the traitors goThat they entered the palaceInto the presence of King Henry,Who was the son of the empress,And they saluted him aloudIn the name of God the Father Almighty.The rich king straightwayReplied to them graciously,That they were welcome,His well wishers and his friends.'Hold it not, lord, as folly,'Thus spake the traitors unto him,'If we shall say to you—be it known to you all—Why we have come to you.We have taken your rebellious vassal,Robert Fitz Stephen is his name,Who was guilty of perfidy towards you of yore,Often of great evil and treachery;Many times has he waged war against you.In Wales and in England;To Ireland he came with a ship,He wished to hand us over to destruction,He wished to destroy our country,Often did he put us from bad to worse.In a castle we took him,In a strong prison we have placed him;To thee we shall give him up, noble king,Who art lord of the English,And do you, noble renowned king,Do your pleasure in this matter.'The king replied to them:'On this condition be ye welcome,That you hand over this man to meAnd then ye will see what I shall do with him.'And they assured the kingAnd promised truly and sworeThat, as soon as they had crossed the sea,To king Henry, who was so stern,They would at length hand over RobertAnd all the other knightsAs many as they had in prisonAnd in their possession.Now, my lords, I will tell youWhy the king, who was so well-bred,Showed such great wrathAgainst the renowned baron Robert;For, of a truth, the king,To whom England belongs,Loved the baron muchWhom these men held in prison;Wherefore the king fearedThat the perfidious traitorsWould murder the good RobertOr bring him to shame and dishonour;Wherefore the king made pretenceOf anger and of great wrathThat he had for the baron,For fear of the treacheryWhich these knaves might doAgainst Robert, the warrior.The king accordingly thankedThe traitors for their loyalty,In that they had taken his enemyAnd put him in gyves and fetters,And in that they had promised himTo deliver up Robert to him.Then the traitors tookTheir leave of King HenryAnd went away to their hostelThe chief one in the city.There they waited for the wind,The king and they in the same way.Hear, my lords, concerning King Henry,Who was the son of the empress,How he resolved to cross the seaAnd to conquer IrelandEntirely through the recommendationOf the noble earl, according to the people.King Henry then crossed overTo Ireland with his ships.The king then brought with himFour hundred armed knights.King Henry when he took shipPut to sea at the Cross:At Pembrokeshire at this timeThe rich king put to sea.With him the noble earl crossed over,According to the statement of the old people.At Waterford the noble kingLanded with four thousand English,On All Hallows' Day, of a truth,If the geste does not deceive us;Before the feast of St. MartinThe king at length came to Ireland.With the king there crossed overVassals of good kindred.William the son of AudelineCame with him on this occasion,Also Humphrey de Bohun,And the baron Hugh de Lacy.With the king himself there cameThe son of Bernard, Robert, I trow;A renowned baron came,Bertram de Verdun he was called;Earls and barons of great worthCame in numbers with Henry.The earl of his own free willSurrendered the city to the king:To the king he surrendered WaterfordOf his own will and agreement.Homage for LeinsterHe did to the king of England:The earl of great worthDid homage to his lord.The rich king granted to himLeinster in fee.King Henry, the gallant,To the Baron Robert the son of Bernard—The custody of the city of WaterfordHe then gave to the son of Bernard.When the king had landedAt Waterford in safety,Lo! the traitors,Who were lords of Wexford,Brought the son of StephenInto his presence in chains.In the city of WaterfordTo the king himself they delivered him up.The king received the bodyIn the presence of his barons and earls.There the noble king accused himOf whatever transgression he had doneTowards him, who was his lord,In the presence of the traitors.The son of Stephen folded his glove,And straightway offered it to the king:For whatever he should be able to accuse him ofRobert would be willing to give redressIn his court very willinglyOn the guaranty of all his peers.French, Flemmings and NormansWent sufficient bail for him at once.From Waterford King HenrySet out with his marquises,To Dublin with his menHe went without delay.Richard, the noble and valiant earl,Straightway surrendered the city to him.Dublin King Henry gaveTo the custody of Hugh de Lacy,And he afterwards guarded the cityBy the command of the king.And the king of EnglandThence turned towards Munster,To the city of CashelWent the king with his splendid following,Where at that time was the seatOf the archbishopric of Munster.From Cashel the puissant kingWent on to Lismore.King Henry Curt MantelAt Lismore wished to fortifyA castle: so wished King Henry,Who was the empress' son.I know not why, but neverthelessAt this time he put it off.Towards Leinster the English kingSet out at this time:Towards Leinster, the rich,He went with his chivalry.Eighteen weeks, nor more nor less,According to what the old people say,The duke of Normandy remainedIn Ireland with his baronage.Of Normandy at this timeThe rich king was duke;Of Gascony and of BrittanyOf Poitou, of Anjou, and of Maine,Was King Henry calledLord, according to the old people.In Ireland was the kingAbout a fortnight and four months.In the land up and downMarched the noble king.Victuals were very dearThroughout all Leinster,For no provisions came to themFrom any other region.At Dublin was King Henry,And at Kildare the noble earl.There the earl abodeWith as many men as he had.While the renowned kingWas in the city of Dublin,Lo! a messenger in hasteCame in haste from England.Lo! a messengerCame to announce to the kingThat Henry, his eldest son,Had in truth revolted against him,And that he sought to deprive him whollyOf the lordship of Normandy.Then the king summonedHugh de Lacy, first of all,And his earls and his vassalsAnd his free-born barons.The rich king then gaveThe custody of the city of DublinAnd of the castle and the keepTo the baron Hugh de Lacy,And Waterford, on the other hand,To the baron Robert the son of Bernard.The son of Stephen at this junctureWas left at Dublin,And Meiler the son of HenryAnd Miles the son of David;With Hugh these were leftBy the command of King Henry.Before that, at this juncture,The king left Dublin,To Hugh de Lacy he grantedAll Meath in feeMeath the warrior grantedFor fifty knightsWhose service the baron should let him haveWhenever he should have need of it.To one John he granted Ulster,If he could conquer it by force;John de Courcy was his name,Who afterwards suffered many a trouble there.Then the king went away to the port,Towards the city of Wexford;He made all the master marinersGet ready his ships.But Richard the renowned earlWent to the city of Ferns.There he married his daughter;To Robert de Quency he gave her.There the marriage took placeIn the presence of all the baronage.To Robert de Quency he gave her,And all the Duffry also,The constableship of Leinster,And the standard and the banner.Here I shall leave off about the earlAnd return to my subject;I would wish, my lords,—know in sooth—To speak of the rich King Henry.The king tarried by the seaAt Wexford in order to cross over.The noble king then crossed overAnd landed at Porth'stinian.With him crossed over the good MiloAnd many a vassal and many a baron.At half a league from St. DavidsKing Henry landed;And the king towards NormandyWent with his great noblesIn order to make war against a son of hisWho wished to despoil him.War had the rich kingWith the French in Normandy.In Ireland remainedThe noble earl with his friends.At Kildare he stayedWith all the forces he had.Often he entered OffalyIn order to plunder O'Dempsey.O'Dempsey was then calledLord and defender of Offaly.The earl entered OffalyWith all his chivalryIn order to spoil and plunderO'Dempsey, who was so bold,In that he did not deign to parley with the earl,Nor would deliver hostages to him.O'Dempsey then, i'faith,Would not make peace with the earl.O'Dempsey with his menVery bravely, of a truth,Contended against the earl,To whom Leinster belongs.When the earl with his followersHad entered Offaly,He then plundered the territoryAnd sought for cattle in wood and plain.When he had collectedThe spoil from all the district,To Kildare returnedThe renowned English barons.The earl was ahead in frontWith a thousand fighting men;The constable remained behindWith the rear-guard.Right at the exit from the passHe fell upon them very quickly,O'Dempsey fell upon them,And the Irish of Offaly.All the Irish of the districtAttacked the rear-guard.That day, in short, was slainThe noble Robert de Quency,Who held the standard and the pennonOf the region of Leinster,And to whom the earl had givenThe constableship in heritage.Greatly was he regretted, know in sooth,The baron Robert de Quency,And in very great griefFor his death was his good lord.When this Robert was slainThey buried him honourably.Robert, who was so noble,Had indeed a daughterBy his wife, of a truth,According to the old people;And she was afterwards given to a baron,Philip de Prendergast was his name,The son of Maurice of Ossory,Who afterwards lived in Hy Kinsellagh.Concerning this Philip I shall leave off,Of the noble earl I wish to speak,And of a brave knight,Raymond le Gros I heard him called,—How this baron of great worthBesought the earl for his sister,That he should give her to him to wifeAnd as his friend and consortWith all the constableshipOf Leinster, the rich,Until the infant should be of an ageTo be able to hold her inheritance,The daughter of Robert de Quency,Of whom you have already heard,Or until she should be givenAnd married to some manWho could direct the bannerAnd the standard of Leinster.The noble earl repliedThat he was not advisedTo grant the petitionWhich the baron had made of him.Then Raymond departedHe and all his companions;He took leave of the earlVery suddenly in evil humour;To Wales, in short, he then crossed overThrough the anger that he feltFor the earl, in that he had refusedThe request he had made.Thus in such mannerRaymond departed from the country.He crossed over the sea to Wales,To Carew Castle he went to dwell.Concerning Raymond le Gros I shall here leave offAbout the English king I shall tell you,How he sent by messenger—He announced to the earlIn Ireland by messengerThat he should come to his aidSpeedily in Normandy,For he was in great perplexityTo govern his territoryAnd to protect his countryAgainst the young king his son.And the earl of great worth,In order to aid his lordCrossed the sea to NormandyAnd brought a number of knights.In Ireland he leftKnights serjeants and foot soldiersIn order to conquer the land,So that the light-footed people of that country,Who were all his enemies,Should not be able to annoy him.When the noble earlHad come into the presenceOf King Henry Curt-MantelVery joyful was the king.Then the king delivered to himThe city of Gisors in custody;And the earl with great courtesyReplied to his lordThat willingly, i'faith,As long as it should be his pleasure—He would, in fact, guard the cityAs long as the noble king should please.Such good service did the earl performFor his lord, King Henry,That the king, without pretence,Was well pleased with his service.The rich king, at his requestTo return to Ireland,Gave leave to the warriorTo return to Ireland.The king, quit-claimed WexfordTo the earl at this time;He gave him the custody of the coastBoth Waterford and Dublin.Then the king caused to be summonedAll the noble knights,As many as he had at Waterford,At Dublin and at Wexford,To come to himSpeedily at his command.The noble earl, know in sooth,In such manner departed;Then he put to seaAnd towards Ireland sails:The noble earl, the warrior,Sails over the high sea.By sea he ranUntil he came to Dublin.Then earl Richard sent wordTo the baron Robert the son of Bernard,And to all the liege baronsWho acknowledged themselves the king's menOf the city of Waterford,To knights, barons, and followers,And to each baron separately,That by the king's commandAll should cross the seaTo aid the king in Normandy.And the earl againSent to Wexford by letter,Sent word to the barons similarlyOn the part of the king Curt-Mantel,That they should cross over without delayTo succour the king in Normandy.The son of Stephen alsoCrossed the sea to King Henry,And Maurice of Ossory,Who afterwards lived in Hy Kinsellagh.And Hugh de Lacy, who was so bold,In order to plant his lands,Set out to MeathWith many a renowned vassal.Of this Hugh I will say no more,Of the liege barons I will give you an account.When the barons had crossed overStraight to Druidston Chins,Towards London they turned directWith all their men.At this time there was, you must know, a great warThroughout all England;For the rich king of ScotlandWas at war with the English king,And the earl of Leicester then,According to the statement of the old people,Had revolted against his lordAnd had brought over Flemings.He thought by their warTo ravage all England,While the son of the EmpressWarred against his son in Normandy.Now the vassals and baronsOf the region of EnglandEncountered the FlemingsAt the city of St. Edmunds.There they were discomfitedAnd the earl of Leicester taken.They were discomfited in this mannerBy the aid of Leinster,And by the might of the IrishThe field remained with the English.And in his turn within that monthThe king was taken and conquered.And the barons of Ireland,Who were in this brawl,All passed over to NormandyAnd told the news to the king,How the Flemings were slainAnd the king of Scotland taken.'Ha!' said the king, 'Praise thee, God,Who art Father and Creator,For having done me this favourThat my traitors are taken!'Hear, my lords, valiant barons,May God of Heaven protect you!Concerning the English king I shall leave off,Who was so very noble and brave,Of the noble earl I will speakAnd of his reverses treat:How the noble earlThroughout Ireland up and downMarched, you must know, with his bold men,Throughout all Leinster.Then the earl dispatchedA certain interpreter of his,To Raymond le Gros he sent wordThat he should come at once to parley with him,That the noble earlWould give him his sister to wife.Then Raymond equipped himself,With many a brave vassal.At Wexford they landed,According to the history, with three ships.Then Raymond to Gros sentTo the earl by a lad,Who told him all the facts:How Raymond had landed,And that the earl should speedilyDeclare his will to the baron.The noble earl at this timeWas at the city of Waterford;To Raymond he sent wordThat he would do all his will;He sent back word alsoThat to the Isle of Inis-TeimhneTo meet him in parleyRaymond should come with his men.Accordingly Raymond got ready,He and all his companions,To the isle he wentAs the earl had directed;And the earl alsoCame there with a very fine suite.The noble earl of great worthBrought there his sister then.There they held a parley,The earl and the strong-limbed baron,About marrying his sister;To Raymond le Gros he will give her.Thence they set out straightwayTo Wexford fighting their way.There the earl brought his sister,To Raymond le Gros he then gave her,Together with the standard and the bannerOf all Leinster,Until the infant should be of ageTo be able to hold her inheritance,The daughter of Robert de QuencyOf whom you have already heard.But afterwards a vassal took her,Philip, a free-born baron,De Prendergast he was called,An illustrious liege baron.This man was such, know ye all,That in the morning he was peevish and irritable,But after eating, generous and good tempered,Courteous and liberal to all.As soon as he had put on his cloakHe was every day swoln with anger;But once he had dined in the morningThen was not a merrier soul under heaven.This man for a long timeHeld the constableship, according to the people,Very renowned he was,And loved by everybody,Very courageous too he was,And of very great prowess.Concerning him I will not here relate,To my subject I will return.I will tell you my lords of a noble baron,Of Raymond le Gros I wish to speak,How the warrior earlGave him his sister to wife,The Forth the earl gave himIn marriage with his sister;Afterwards he gave him, you must know,All Odrone in fee,And Glascarrig alsoOn the sea towards the east.He gave Obarthy on the sea,To Hervey de Mont Maurice.To Maurice de PrendergastThe valiant earl RichardHad already given FernegenalAnd in his council confirmed itBefore the renowned earlHad landed in Ireland;Ten fiefs he gave him on this conditionFor the service of ten knights.In Fernegenal he dwelt altogetherSo that Maurice had him for next neighbour.I know not how but Robert Fitz GodibertHeld it afterwards, you must know.Carbury he gave to the good MeilerWho was such a noble lord.The earl Richard next gaveTo Maurice the son of Gerald—The Naas the good earl gaveTo the son of Gerald with all the honour:This is the land of OffelanWhich belonged to the traitor MacKelan.He gave him too Wicklow,Between Bray and Arklow:This was the land of KillmantainBetween Ath-cliath and Loch GarmanTwenty fiefs in OmurethyThe noble earl in the same wayGave to the warriorWalter de Riddlesford;To John de Clahull the marshalshipOf Leinster, the rich,With all the land, know in sooth,Between Oboy andLeighlin;To Robert de BirminghamOffaly to the west of Offelan.To Adam de Hereford likewiseHe gave a rich fief.And to Miles the son of David,Who was so intimate with him,Owerk in OssoryHe gave him as his share.To Thomas the Fleming he gaveArdrie, in the presence of his baronage.Offelimy on the seaThe earl gave to a knight:To Gilbert de BoisrohardThe earl gave it as his share.The noble earl, who was so bold,Gave fifteen fiefs on the seaTo a brave knight,Reinaud I heard him called.The Earl Richard the son of GilbertGave Narragh to one Robert.Who was afterwards indeed killedIn Connaught by his enemies.In such manner the renowned earlDivided and gave his land.Concerning the noble earl I shall here leave off,Of Hugh de Lacy I shall tell you,How he enfeoffed his barons,Knights, serjeants, and retainers.Castle Knock, in the first place, he gaveTo Hugh Tyrrell, whom he loved so much;And Castle Brack, according to the writing,To baron William le Petit,Magheradernon likewiseAnd the land of Rathkenny;The cantred of Ardnorcher thenTo Meiler, who was of great worth,Gave Hugh de Lacy—To the good Meiler Fitz Henry;To Gilbert de Nangle, moreover,He gave the whole of Morgallion;To Jocelin he gave the Navan,And the land of Ardbraccan,(The one was son, the other father,According to the statement of the mother);To Richard Tuite likewiseHe gave a rich fief;Rathwire he gave moreoverTo the baron Robert de Lacy;To Richard de la ChapelleHe gave good and fine land;To Geoffrey de Constantine Kilbixi (?)Near to Rathconarty;And Skreen he then gave by charter:To Adam de Phepoe he gave it;To Gilbert de Nugent,And likewise to William de Musset,He gave lands and honours,In the presence of barons and vavassours;And to the baron Hugh de HusseyHe then gave fair lands;To Adam Dullard likewiseThe land of 'Rathenuarthi'.To one Thomas de CravilleHe gave in heritageEmlagh Beccon in quiet enjoyment,At the north east of Kells,Laraghcalyn likewise,And Shanonagh, according to the people,Gave Hugh de Lacy,Know in sooth, to this Thomas.Crandone (?) then to a baron,Richard the Fleming was his name—Twenty fiefs he gave him of a truth,If the geste does not deceive you.A fortress this man erectedIn order to harass his enemies,Knights and a goodly force he kept thereArchers, serjeants, likewise.In order to destroy his enemies;Often he brought them from bad to worse.But afterwards there came against him O'Carroll,Who was king of Uriel,And the rebel MacDunlevyOf the region of Ulster;O'Rourke was there, also,And the king Melaghlin.Full twenty thousand at this timeOf the Irish came upon them.Very fiercely they attacked them,And the barons defended themselvesSo long as they could haveDefence in the fortress;But the Irish from all sidesHurled their javelins and their darts.The fortress indeed they destroyedAnd slew the garrison within;But many were previously slainOf the Irish of the northern districts.In such manner, know ye all,Was the country plantedWith castles and with cities,With keeps and with strongholds.Thus well rooted wereThe noble renowned vassals.And the earl had already conqueredHis enemies of Leinster:For he had with him Murtough,And next Donnell Kavanagh,Mac Donachadh and Mac Dalwy,O'More and O'Dempsey,O'Duvegan the hoary old man,Likewise O'Brien of the Duffry,Gilmoholmock and MacKelan,And O'Lorcan of Obarthy;And all the hostages of renown,The noblest of Leinster,The earl, you must know, had with him,According to the ancient custom.Then Hugh de LacyFortified a house at Trim,And threw a trench around it,And then enclosed it with a stockade.Within the house he then placedBrave knights of great worth;Then he entrusted the castleTo the wardenship of Hugh Tyrrel;To the harbour he went in order to crossThe high seas to England.But when the king of Connaught heard it—He who was king at this epoch—That Hugh had fortified a castle,He was enraged at the tidings;His host he summoned to him,He will go to attack the castle.All at once O'Connor,The proud king of Connaught,Led with him O'Flaherty,Mac Dermot and Mac Geraghty,O'Kelly, king of Hy Many,O'Hart (?) and O'Finaghty,(?)O'Carbery and O'Flannagan,And then next O'Monaghan,O'Dowd and O'Monaghan,O'Shaughnessy of 'Poltilethban';King Melaghlin went also,And his neighbour king O'Rourke,O'Malory (?) of the Kinel O'Neill,And likewise Mac Dunlevy;King O'Carroll went also,And Mac Tierney(?), who was so base,Mac Scelling and Mac Artan,And the rebel Mac Garaghan;Mackelan likewiseWent with all his men;O'Neill, the king of the Kinel Owen,Brought with him three thousand Irish.The Northerners were assembled,And all the kings of Leath-Cuinn,Towards Trim they set out marchingTo demolish the castle.And the baron Hugh TyrrellSent to the earlA page at full speedOn a very swift horse,And he told the earlAll the tidings by word of mouth:How the Northerners were assembledAnd all the kings of Leath-CuinnTo throw down the keepThe castle and the stockade.'Through me the baron sends you word—Old Hugh Tyrrell of Trim—That you aid him in every way,And succour him with your force.'And the earl promised himBy word of mouth that he would aid him.He caused all his men to be summonedThroughout Leinster speedily.When they were all assembled,Old and young, ruddy and fair,Towards Trim they resolved to marchTo encounter the Northerners.But before the noble earlArrived with his men,Hugh had of a truthUtterly abandoned his charge,Because he was not in sufficient forceWithin the castle nor withoutTo offer fight or combatWithout the help of the earl.When the English were goneAnd had abandoned their house,The Irish arrived at Trim.Their numbers I shall by no means tell,How many they were nor what thousands,For I should be thought to be lying.The rampart they threw completely downAnd levelled it even with the ground,But first of all they putThe house to flames.When they had accomplished their workThey retreated altogether:They made a show of returningTo their country, the wicked tyrants.And the earl, who was so bold,To Trim resolved to hastenTo protect the house,If he could arrive in time.To Trim the earl went with all speedAnd with him many a valiant vassal.But when the earl had arrived,By the river he then alighted;For he found there standingNeither house nor cabin, big or little,Within which he could take his easeAnd lodge for that night.Then the earl made proclamationAnd commanded throughout the host,That all should straightway mount.Then he threw himself on his horseAnd set off on the straight roadPursuing at a great pace.So much did the earl exert himselfThat he came up with the rear;He charged them speedilyWithout any pause;And the Irish who had no armourThen scattered themselvesBy sevens and eights, by threes and fours,So that they did not hold together.And the earl then slewOf these men seven score and ten.Then, you must know, he made a retreatTo Dublin with great confidence,And Hugh Tyrrell went to TrimAnd re-fortified his fortress;After that he guarded it with great honourUntil the arrival of his lord.And the earl throughout LeinsterWent marching back and forwards,Until he resolvedThat he would at length marchAgainst King Donnell O'BrienWith the advice of his English.His host he summons, all at once,The strongest of Leinster,That all should be in attendance,Old and young, small and great.At the banner and the pennonOf the constable Raymond le Gros.My lords, may God befriend you!Knights, serjeants, and attendants,I will tell you of a knight,Raymond le Gros I heard him called,A valiant baron he was,A vassal daring and victorious,Very rich and powerful he was,And the most puissant of his peers.Constable is RaymondOf the province of Leinster.Knights he retained and a goodly forceBy the earl's command,Knights he had and common soldiers,Archers, serjeants, and fighting-men,To put to shame and outlawryThe Irish enemies of the king.Hearken, my lords and worthy folk,If ye would hear now plainly:Of a knight I will tell you,A baron, a noble warrior,Of the constable Raymond le Gros,How he summons his host from all quartersUp and down throughout the land,Through Meath and through Leinster,All the esquirehoodWell armed and well equipped,Knights, serjeants, and common soldiers,With army equipped and ready;To meet Raymond in OssoryThe baronage should come,And he will have them guided forwardAgainst King O'Brien, who was so bold.The Irish king of OssoryWill go in their company,And he will truly lead the host, so he said,And guide it against King O'Brien,As far as the city of LimerickHe will guide it in safety.Why should I go on telling you more,Either more or less, little or much?When the host had assembled,Towards Munster they then turned;And the king of OssoryGuides them forward in the van:Towards Munster he guided them,Against King O'Brien he brought this host.But Raymond, according to the people,Did not trust him entirelyBefore that he had assured him,Pledged his faith and sworn,That he would never commit any deceitNor treason nor treachery of any kindAgainst him or his men henceforward.And the king at onceSaid to him then in the presence of all:'You will be wrong to doubt it;Nay, I will guide you quite right,And I shall pledge you my word.'When the king had said this,They march forward, without gainsaying,They march all night and the next day,Now in woods, now in the open,Until they came to a renowned cityWhich was named Limerick.This city was surroundedBy a river, a wall, and a dyke,So that no man could pass overWithout a ship or a bridge,Neither in winter nor in summer,Except by a difficult ford.There passed over first that dayThe baron Meiler the son of Henry.Wherefore it was well said:'We shall call it Meiler's ford';For when the host of LeinsterCame to Limerick in this way,To the river they cameSo that they were going to return without more;When a knight of St. David'sWho was brought up in this land,Meiler the son of Henry was his name,With a loud voice raises a cry:The son of Henry, the baron Meiler,Began to call aloud:To the front he went shouting,'Pass over, knights: why do ye tarry?'Into the river he straightway threw himself,And his white horse bears him across.When the knight had crossed over'St. David!' he shouted loud and clear.For he was his lordUnder the Lord God the Creator.And the knight with great affectionInvoked St. David night and day,That he might aid himIn doing deeds of valour;That he should give him strength, and praise, and renownAgainst all his enemies.Often he invoked St. David,That he should not leave him in forgetfulness,But give him might and vigourIn the midst of his enemies that day.After him there crossed overMany barons and knights well armed.Before they had all crossed overMany were drowned that day.